Bitter Dispositions
by MaladroitMagpie
Summary: Instead of Stefan, Bonnie is the one who wakes up Damon after he desiccates himself. Together, they search for a missing Elena, and Damon quickly discovers that Bonnie is not quite the same person he left behind. She's running from problems that won't stay buried for long, but when they come to light, Damon will be damned if he lets her face them alone. Bamon. (Hybrid Bonnie)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

 _"Hey."_

 _"It's been a while."_

* * *

Call it a random bout of nostalgia. She had been in New York for something completely unrelated to them and was supposed to be leaving, but Bonnie found herself wandering over to Brooklyn. Maybe it had been the inescapable pull of a past she chose to leave behind or the need for closure on a chapter of her life that ended long ago. Whatever the feeling was, it drew her back to that warehouse in Brooklyn where the man who had once been her best friend chose to leave her behind like it was the easiest thing in the world. Her lips curled into a frown. It had been a while since she had thought of him, and she wondered why she was doing this. They weren't friends anymore and would never be friends again. But she supposed some part of her needed to know that he hadn't sacrificed their relationship for nothing, that at least his dreams had finally come true.

The streets were unusually sparse in the late afternoon. There was scarcely a soul outside and very few cars on the road. She drove, single-minded in her destination as she gave into a strange pull inside her. Yet at the same time, she teetered on the edge of turning around, leaving the city, and going back home. It had been a long time since she'd slept in her own bed, and the thought of it sounded like heaven after being away for so long, but for some reason she felt compelled to do this. Something deep in her gut told her she had to.

The closer she came, the heavier the air began to feel. A knot coiled in her stomach, the kind that usually meant that something bad was going to happen. Her anticipation heightened, and everything in her told her that now was the time to turn around and never look back, but she drove faster. Her fingers clenched at the wheel as she berated herself. This was stupid. Coming here was stupid, but the warehouses were already in sight. Curiosity already had the better of her. She could regret this later all she wanted, but if something was wrong, she had to know.

Bonnie remembered the exact warehouse like she had been there yesterday. How could she forget. The image was burned into her mind along with the bitter memory associated with it— him standing there, staring at her with wide eyes while her explanation of how his actions were hurting her had fell on deaf ears. She should have never gone there, never wasted her time trying to stop him. Shaking her head, she pushed the distracting thoughts away and focused on moving through the pathways. Her heartbeat sped up ever so slightly as she rounded the final corner, and there it was. She pulled up in front of the building. Her chest tightened as she approached the door. The sinking feeling in her gut intensified.

The combination to the lock had been given to her by Stefan long ago. In case of emergency, he'd said, even though she hadn't wanted it. She quickly put it in and unlocked the door. It was dark, but she could see that there was only one coffin sitting just off the center of the room. Slowly, she walked towards it, looking at the empty space where another coffin should have been. Strange. If the other was gone, she hoped the one that sat in front of her was empty. But somehow, she already knew it wasn't. She paused for only a second before opening the lid. Inside, she glimpsed a tuft of short black hair and pallid grey skin before she closed it and released a long drawn-out sigh. Her gut sank all the way to the floor.

Elena wasn't there. Her coffin was missing.

A barrage of questions ran through Bonnie's mind, but the one she kept asking herself was that if Elena was awake, why was he still here? She would have never left him behind and the only way Bonnie could see her leaving him here was if she hadn't had a choice. Bonnie forced herself to hold that train of thought. Maybe Elena was still asleep, and her coffin was moved to a better place for safekeeping. But that didn't explain why he was still inside the coffin in front of her. Wouldn't they have been moved together? She paced for a moment, then stopped, biting the corner of her lip. She stared at the coffin in front of her and wondered why she cared so much. This was none of her business. They were none of her business, and she wanted nothing to do with either of them. If this was a full-blown situation and the past was any indication, getting mixed up in Elena's problems would definitely not turn out well for her.

Bonnie looked towards the door. It would be easy to walk away and never look back, but would she be able to live with herself if something was wrong and she did nothing?

She cursed aloud, hating the answer to that question.

Bonnie pulled out her phone and dialed Tyler. He and Enzo were the last people appointed to look after Elena's coffin and the last people to move it as far as Bonnie knew, so maybe he might've moved it again. The phone went straight to voicemail, and Bonnie left a quick message asking him to call her back when he could. She hung up and scrolled through the rest of her contacts, calling Stefan first, then Caroline. Neither answered, so she left them both messages asking them to call her back as well. Next, she called Alaric who fortunately picked up on the third ring.

Bonnie explained the situation to him, her confusion and asked him if he knew anything about Elena's missing coffin. After a long pause, he basically said he didn't and that he wanted nothing to do with whatever was going on. The twins were his priority, and he couldn't afford to put himself in dangerous situations anymore. He apologized to her and asked her if she'd told Jeremy yet. Bonnie hadn't seen Jeremy since he supposedly went off to art school in New Mexico and no longer had his number. After telling that to Alaric, he promised to track down Jeremy for her and update him on the situation before promptly hanging up. Bonnie was annoyed with his curt attitude, but she understood. Alaric had died before while caught up in Mystic Fall's supernatural problems and so had she, but he could've at least offered to look up some information for her as well. He did still run The Armory with Enzo after all.

Enzo was, of course, her next call, and he, of course, didn't answer, so she left him a quick message as well. Frustrations mounting, she started pacing in front of the coffin and called the last person who might know anything.

The phone rang for a while, but Matt eventually answered. Bonnie told him what was happening, hoping he might know something. But he, like Alaric, knew nothing and wanted nothing to do with it. Matt explained that he had a new fiancé and a baby on the way. Having not spoken to him for almost two years, Bonnie hadn't known. She congratulated him. Then he, in the same way as Alaric, claimed he couldn't afford to take any unnecessary risks involving the supernatural world. Bonnie understood that, but did no one care that Elena might be in some kind of danger? Would they just forfeit her life?

Not wanting to argue with him, Bonnie changed the subject and asked if he had heard from Tyler recently. He, like Matt, had settled back into the cop-life far away from their hometown in Mystic Falls, and she knew the two regularly kept in touch. Matt told her that he hadn't heard anything from Tyler recently. The few times he phoned him in the past few weeks, the calls went straight to voicemail. Matt admitted that he was a little worried, but hadn't thought too much of it. The last time they talked, Tyler had said he'd been dealing with an increase of hunters in the Pennsylvania area. Hesitantly, Matt asked her if she could possibly head out there and see if he was alright. He would go himself, but he was reluctant to leave his pregnant fiancé's side.

Sympathetic, Bonnie acquiesced. She told Matt that she would go, check on Tyler, and maybe find out if he knew anything about the coffin situation. It had been a long time since they'd seen each other anyway. Matt thanked her, apologized for not being able to help more, and the call ended.

Bonnie stared at her phone a moment longer before shoving it back into her pocket. There was one more thing she could try to make sure that she wasn't unnecessarily worried. She closed her eyes and focused, channeling her own connection to Elena for a quick locator spell sans a map, one where an image of Elena's location should flash in her mind if performed correctly. Bonnie mumbled the incantation, but the moment the Latin words left her lips, she felt a block. She could sense Elena's life force, but when she pushed for a location, she hit a wall. Her brows knitted together as she tried again, repeating the words, but her head erupted into pain until she was forced to stop. She breathed heavily, taking a second to gather herself. This was a witch. Bonnie recognized the magic of another force pushing back against her. Someone was hiding her, but there was no reason, to Bonnie's knowledge, why another witch should know about Elena.

With one last look at the coffin behind her, she walked out into the open air. The sun was setting, but the picturesque glow did nothing to quell her darkening mood. Bonnie cursed the world, cursed the benevolence left in her heart. She wanted so badly not to care, to be able to walk away and not feel any guilt, but she knew that if she did, it would eat away at what was left of her sanity. Somehow, after all this time and everything that had happened, that part of her still remained.

On the way from New York to a little town outside of Pittsburgh, she had called Tyler again and left him another message letting him know that she was on her way to him. Hopefully, he would call her back before she made it out there. It had been a long time since she had seen or even heard from him though, and she was almost looking forward to seeing him. Thinking back, the last time had been about two years ago at Matt's surprise birthday party. Since then, Tyler had lost touch with most of the group outside of Matt. In fact, they had all slowly drifted apart, started new lives for themselves away from one another. Recently, Bonnie herself hadn't seen or heard from Stefan or Caroline for months, and the others for far longer than that. Without a big bad to keep them together, no one had cared to stay in Mystic Falls or keep in contact with each other.

The seven hour drive to the Pittsburgh area ended with Bonnie pulling up to a small house in a nice neighborhood with an actual white picket fence. Bonnie double-checked the address that Matt had sent her. This was it. She looked around. The driveway was empty, and there were no lights on, but it was only six a.m. and the sun was barely just over the horizon. Bonnie rang the doorbell twice. She waited. There was movement inside, footsteps too light to be Tyler. She heard them come down the steps, stop in front of the door, then hesitantly open it. It was a woman, blonde and pretty with soft features. Tyler's girlfriend, Bonnie suspected. The woman wrapped her robe tighter around herself and asked Bonnie if she could help her. Bonnie merely said she was an old friend of Tyler's before looking into her eyes and interrogating her about his whereabouts.

As it turned out, Tyler had been missing for a little over two weeks. They'd only been living together for a week before he just didn't come home after work one day. Police reports had been filed, and they searched, but no one had been able to find him, and there were no new leads. At this point, he was as good as dead. Bonnie's nerves coiled in on themselves as the woman started crying and launched into a lament, expressing how much she loved Tyler and thought they were going to get married and eventually start a family. Bonnie attempted to console her, and once she calmed down, Bonnie promised that she would find Tyler. Skeptically hopeful, the woman asked how, and Bonnie dismissed the question, telling her not to worry.

This was how Bonnie ended up standing in an empty parking lot at seven a.m. in the morning with a map she had bought from a gas station laid out on top of the hood of her car and a bit of black sand she kept handy for times like these. _Vinde val tratunderes._ The words for a locator spell left her lips like a familiar prayer. The sand circled around the map until it stopped somewhere north and far off the main roads, but a strange sense of dread filled her the moment the sand stopped moving. Something was wrong. Bonnie gauged the distance from where she was and the street nearest to where Tyler was likely located. Rushing off, she sped down the streets.

If she was worried before, Bonnie was even more so now. The dread never left. It lingered, festered until she was sure she should be panicking. She forced herself not to think of the possibilities and to only focus on the road ahead. Tyler would be fine, she said to herself, but she already knew he wasn't. She could only hope against all odds that he was at least still alive. Her grip on the steering wheel tightened, and she sped up until the trees alongside the road became a blur. Abruptly veering off onto the side of the road, she put the car into park, got out, and went into the forest.

For another hour, she wandered through the wood, searching for any sign of anything, but all was quiet. Only the sound of wind whirring through the trees echoed in her eardrums. Almost ready to give up, Bonnie took another step forward and felt her veins constrict. The air around her became abnormally cold. Freezing even. She sucked in a breath, sank to her knees, and started to dig.

She clawed her way through the dirt, dread rising all over again. Minutes later, she was uncovering his face. He hadn't been buried deep because no one probably expected anyone to look for him this far out in the forest. Sitting back on her haunches, she stared at her dead friend, at the bullet hole in the middle of his head at a loss for words. She and Tyler had never been close, but she had known him since they were kids, and they had been through so much together. For him to have been murdered and buried out in the middle of the woods like he was nothing made her upset, but she bottled down those emotions, grimacing as she dug out the rest of Tyler's body to reveal evidence that all but confirmed he had been murdered by a supernatural.

There was a hole carved out of his chest, his heart missing. She looked at the bullet wound between his eyes, then the hole where his heart should've been. It only made sense that the bullet would have come first. Shoot him, then take the heart. Hunters primarily used guns, and Matt had said Tyler had been dealing with hunters out here. They could be responsible for his death. But a hunter had no use for a werewolf's heart as far as she knew. Would they have wanted it as a trophy?

There was a spell she could try. It would tell her what happened just before he died if she did it right. Kneeling beside his head, her dirt covered hands cupped his cold face, and she began to chant. _Acti vase da cona._ She repeated the spell over and over again until images appeared in her head.

The sound of a gunshot. A woman silently ordering a man to shoot him. A feeling of helplessness and fear. She looked up through Tyler's eyes. Shadows, faces shrouded, swirling dark tendrils outlining their shapes. Bonnie pushed herself, looking for distinguishing features. The shadows slowly took shape, forming into a pale woman with long brown hair beside a nondescript man with a gun pointed at Tyler's head. Their mouths moved, but Bonnie heard nothing. The woman's long feminine fingers extended, drawing Bonnie's attention to a very distinct ring in the shape of a lotus flower with a ruby stone in the center. The pull of the man's trigger was the last image she saw before the exertion from the spell became too much, and she had to stop. Breathing as if she had just run a marathon. She stared at her hands, frowning before a drop of blood fell onto her shirt. She wiped the trail of blood from her nose.

The woman from the vision had to be a witch. There was no mistaking the energy she felt gathering around her in the vision. That might explain the missing heart. She could've wanted it for a spell, but there was no way to know for sure. And without knowing who they were or why they wanted Tyler, Bonnie was at a loss. She let out a noise of frustration. First Elena and now this. It seemed the world had a vendetta against her.

Taking one last look at Tyler, she stood and started the trek back towards her car. On the way, she left an anonymous tip for the police so Tyler would be found and he would get the funeral he deserved. Maybe afterwards his poor girlfriend could finally grieve him properly.

When she made it back to the car, Bonnie took another moment to herself, still somewhat in a state of disbelief over Tyler's death. He had been dead for at least a few weeks based on the state of his body, so his killers were likely long gone. That didn't stop her from spending the rest of the day searching the nearby town, asking anyone and everyone if they had seen a mysterious woman and man that fit the description of the two from her vision. But the search had been a waste of time. There was no trail whatsoever for her to follow. Whoever they were, they had entered the town and left like ghosts.

Elena was still out there, still alive. She would have to be her priority, and as long as the two weren't connected, continuing the search for Tyler's killers would be an unnecessary waste of time she wasn't sure she had.

It would have been nice if Stefan or Caroline actually answered their phones. Their help would have been indispensable, but those two were too busy having fun on their honeymoon in Europe to give a shit about the rest of the world. On her way back to the car from the forest, she had called them both again to no avail and left another urgent voicemail for them to call her back. Then she called Matt to break the news. He was heartbroken, promised to try and come out as soon as he could to see what he could find out himself, but as soon as he could was not now, and every second wasted was another second some witch was running around doing god knows what with a werewolf heart. Bonnie cursed aloud. She was angry, furious even that this was all falling on her shoulders, that no one could be as invested in this as she was.

There was no way she was doing this by herself. She refused to. Closing her eyes, she let out a long sigh. In the back of her mind she knew who to go to but was reluctant to admit it to herself. There was one other person who could help her, one person who had far more at stake in this situation than her, who needed to know what was happening. Her stomach lurched at the thought. He was the last person she wanted to see, but who else could she turn to for help with this? There were no other viable alternatives, at least none that would willingly help her, so it was inevitable that she would have to wake him.

Roughly six hours later, Bonnie Bennett was back in New York in front of the warehouse where one coffin containing a certain desiccated individual still remained.

There was no amount of alcohol that could dull the mess of emotions inside of her. It was bad enough that things had gotten to this point but having no choice but to wake _him_ was pushing her to a tipping point. Her head descended to the steering wheel, the tip of her forehead resting between her hands as her grip on the wheel tightened. She had thought she was over it, that she was done caring about what he had done, but just the thought of seeing him and having to speak with him again made her insides turn with latent resentment. Waking him was the last thing she wanted to do, but she had no choice. There was currently no one else, and she desperately needed help. Besides, regardless of her personal feelings, he would've had to have been woken eventually. His involvement in the situation would be far greater than hers and dealing with him would be a necessary evil.

Head still on the steering wheel, she took a deep breath and then another before she stepped out the car and grabbed a blood bag from the cooler she kept in her trunk. Reluctance wore on her features as she slammed the trunk closed and walked towards the warehouse.

When she opened the door, late afternoon sunlight poured through the building, illuminating the single coffin sitting in the center of the room, the empty space next to it a glaring reminder of the problem at hand. Stopping in front of the coffin, she gingerly trailed her fingers along the edge of the dusty mahogany wood before slowly lifting the cover. In front of her, Damon Salvatore's desiccated body lay there, unchanged and undisturbed after all this time. Unlike when she first opened the coffin, she took a moment to stare at his face, and the more she looked at his serene expression, the more forgotten fury rose to the surface. She clenched her fists. While she went through hell, he had been here, sleeping peacefully without a care in the world. For a second, she hated him with all her heart, but the moment passed. She needed his help, and he would undoubtedly need hers. What she felt towards him was irrelevant to the situation at hand.

Resolved, her features set into an impassive expression as she brought the blood bag to his lips and squeezed. Gradually, the pallid grey color of his veiny desiccated skin reverted back to his natural pale complexion. Her eyes flickered to his hand, watching as his fingers twitched beside him. His hand began to move, taking the blood bag from her, and he drank the rest on his own. He gulped down the blood, impatient to satiate his hunger, and a bit trailed from the corner of his mouth, down his chin, and onto his neck. Bonnie's gaze followed the blood intently. But whatever she had been thinking was forgotten when she looked at his face again and his eyes, blue as ever, were staring back at her.

Bonnie backed away, quicker than she intended. There was no explaining the convoluted rush of emotions inside her, but it was overwhelming. She forced herself to remain calm, but no matter how calm she pretended to be, she still dreaded the inevitable confrontation with him when he found out the truth about her and why she had to wake him. Composing herself, she took a deep breath and folded her arms across her chest, staring at an interesting spot on the wall while he slowly sat up, finishing the blood bag before he spoke.

"Don't look so happy to see me Bon-bon." Damon tore the blood bag from his lips and tossed it to the ground. Her stomach tightened the instant she heard him speak. The cadence of his voice was irritatingly jovial. In a second, he was outside the coffin and standing in front of her, eyes widening as he took in her appearance. Bonnie stood stock still as he eyed her from head to toe. But almost nothing about her physical appearance had changed over the years, and soon his gaze returned to her face. Bonnie looked everywhere but directly at him. "How's my favorite witch?"

It was funny how he could pretend that the last thing he saw wasn't her crying and telling him how his decision to desiccate was hurting her. She ignored the reflex to scowl and cut to the chase. "Elena's missing."

In her peripheral, she saw him look around and see that the coffin that should have been next to his was missing. His face fell.

"How long?"

Bonnie shrugged. "I've only known for about two days, but it could have been longer."

Damon tensed, frowning. "What do you mean it could have been longer? And why the hell did you wait two days before you woke me?"

"I thought I had it under control." Damon scoffed at her. She could tell he had become stressed, knew that this was the last thing he wanted to deal with after waking up. He and Elena were supposed to be starting the rest of their lives together, and she was supposed to be dead and gone. Instead, Bonnie was alive, and they had to band together and save Elena for the umpteenth time. Her mouth twitched into a subtle frown. She resented being dragged back into another Elena-centric mess. There were better things she could be doing with her time.

"And you have no idea when exactly she went missing or who might've taken her?"

Bonnie impassively shrugged again. "I wasn't her keeper, and I've had problems of my own to deal with."

Damon paused at that, looking at her curiously. "What sort of problems?" He inquired.

"That's none of your business," she responded coldly.

Damon continued to stare, crystalline blue eyes boring into her. Bonnie was barely reacting, distancing herself from the act of conversing with him. He took it the wrong way. "You seem like you don't even care."

Bonnie raised her eyebrows ever so slightly at his accusatory tone. "Would you like me to get upset?" She had a whole well full of irritation bubbling just underneath the surface. If he wanted to see how upset she was after what she'd dealt with these past two days, she could show him.

"Some emotion would be nice. She's your best friend. She could be dead, and you're acting like none of this concerns you-"

He was deflecting, focusing on her apparent lack of emotion rather than his own and trying to get a rise out of her. Not even five minutes of talking with him and he was already pushing her buttons. She wondered if it was conscious on his part or an old habit resurfacing. Either way, Bonnie was not going to give him the satisfaction. She cut him off just as he started to raise his voice. "She's not dead. I did a spell. Wherever she is, she's still alive, but someone is concealing her location."

Relief flooded his features the moment she said Elena wasn't dead. "Tell me you at least have a plan, then."

Bonnie shifted on her feet. "No plan as of now. We're at square one."

"Okay. What about Enzo or wolf boy? They were the ones who had took care of the coffin last."

Bonnie grimaced. "Tyler is dead." She explained what she had discovered over the past few days, the circumstances of Tyler's death and the woman and man who had killed him. "There was no way to find them, but I'm not entirely sure his death had anything to do with Elena. Hunters have been a problem everywhere lately, and a witch working with one is not unheard of though lately most have started killing witches and werewolves just as much as vampires."

Damon was silent as he took in the information. "What about Enzo?"

"I haven't been able to reach him and I don't know where he is."

"And there's no one else who could've known about the location? What about the armory?"

She shook her head. "What's left of the armory is run by Alaric and Enzo. No one else we don't already know could've known about the warehouse."

"Fine." He started to walk off towards the exit. "Then we should probably regroup with the others and figure out our next step."

Bonnie didn't follow him. "They're not coming."

He stopped in his tracks and looked back at her. "What do you mean they're not coming?"

"Stefan and Caroline are off somewhere in Europe. Everyone else I could reach is either busy, can't help, or doesn't want to help, so unfortunately it's just you and me at the moment." Her voice carried a disdainful tone specifically over the words _you and me,_ and her mouth twitched into a subtle frown. Both of which did not go unnoticed by Damon.

"You don't sound too happy about that."

She stifled the sarcastic retort on the tip of her tongue. Why the hell would she be happy to even be within a two feet radius of him? After the way he hurt her, Bonnie wanted absolutely nothing to do with him. But instead of voicing her thoughts, she chose a more neutral response. "I'm not happy about any of this," she said, hoping to draw his attention away from the festering wound of him and her and the way he left things between them all those years ago, but her magnanimous reply did not deter Damon from pushing the issue.

"You look like you want to say something else."

She ignored his goading. Saying what she wanted to say would be pointless and would fracture her already thin tolerance for dealing with him. Besides, there was another unavoidable matter that should be addressed before they continued any further. "There is something you should know," she started, looking straight at him for the first time. His blue eyes locked onto her green as he waited patiently for her to continue. "Elena is awake, or at least she should be."

He blinked, brows furrowing as he considered what she said. "What do you mean she should be awake? You're standing right in front of me…" He trailed off.

"I've been dead for three months." Surprisingly, it came out like it was nothing.

There was a long pause of him just staring at her before he responded, wry grin on his face.

"Very funny, Bon-bon."

"Does this," She let her face change, the telltale signs of vampirism marring her features, "look like a joke to you?"

He fell silent, any trace of amusement disappearing from his face as he took in her pitch-black irises, blood-shot sclera, the veins running underneath them, and the fangs in her mouth. He looked at her, really looked at her.

His brow furrowed again and the corners of his mouth turned downwards. He didn't say anything, so Bonnie went back to the Elena problem. "This is why I'm worried about Elena. If they took her in the coffin, it means that she could've been gone long before I died which is another reason why I don't think Tyler's death is connected to this if he died only a few weeks ago."

Damon wasn't done with the former subject. "Back up. The Bonnie Bennett I knew would rather die than become a vampire. What happened?"

Her expression remained blank. "Things changed," was all she said.

Damon did not like her answer. "So you're okay with this?" His face was incredulous as he asked her the question. He stepped closer to her, obvious concern in his eyes. "You can't tell me you're okay with this."

She looked away from him. "Don't act like you care about how I feel, Damon."

He stared at her for a long time, frowning, seeming to debate whether or not he wanted to say something, but he let it go. For now. Then his expression shifted to consideration as he realized something else. "Earlier, you said you did a spell."

"I'm also still a witch," she admitted.

His eyebrows went to his hairline. "Hold on. You're a vampire-witch? A heretic? I thought only siphoners could become one."

"It's been eight years. A lot of things happened after you decided to abandon us," Bonnie couldn't help the bitterness that slipped into her voice.

At the mention that it had been eight years, she watched another flicker of surprise pass over his face before he got that other look in his eyes, the one where she knew he was about to spew insincere apologies. "Bonnie. I am s-"

She held her hand up. "Don't. If you even remotely wanted me to believe that you were actually sorry, that should have been the first thing you said to me."

"And if it was, would you have forgiven me?"

She didn't even have to think about it. "No." He did not deserve her forgiveness. Not this time. He chose to abandon her. He chose to _never_ see her again. If she weren't a vampire, she'd be dead. She'd have never seen him, a person who was supposed to be her best friend, for the rest of her life. And now, seeing his face again was reminding her of the feeling he left her with when he chose desiccation over being her friend. Bonnie schooled her features and met his eyes.

"Will you ever consider forgiving me?" His voice was uncharacteristically softer than usual.

She almost scoffed. The anger that boiled beneath the surface and the hurt that lay underneath soared to the forefront at the thought of ever forgiving him in the future. The answer to his question was a resounding "No", but she couldn't bring herself to speak. If she opened her mouth, a volcano would erupt. She would lash out at him. She would end up saying things she knew she wasn't ready to face. They would argue. He would try to make her understand his choice. It would all be a pointless waste of time.

A part of her wondered if she was being irrational. Did she have a right to still feel as angry as she did? She hadn't been this angry since…since she didn't know when. Her emotions certainly hadn't felt this volatile since she first turned. God, she was a mess. Bonnie took a deep breath, meaning to calm herself. She couldn't talk about this, couldn't even think about this anymore. "We should focus on Elena."

Damon looked reluctant to change the subject. His gaze was intent on her, making sure that she knew this conversation was far from over for him. But for her, it was over eight years ago. "Fine. Then let's go." He moved ahead of her, making his way outside.

Bonnie followed him out of the warehouse. "I'm assuming you have a plan?"

Damon stopped in front of her car, having the gall to smirk at her. "'Plan' is my middle name."

* * *

 **A/N:** Hi there! First off, if you're a fan of Tyler, sorry for killing him off to jump-start the plot. Secondly, this is an idea that has been stuck in my head after I gave up on the show a few episodes into season eight (lol a long time, I know). I've had this written for a while now and I've decided to take a dive and press the submit button to see if there might be some interest, so please let me know if you're interested! Even though I only have an extremely vague idea of where this is headed and generally no idea how I'm gonna get there, I do hope to continue. Also, this is my first fanfic that I'm posting ever so any feedback and criticism are welcome!

Thanks for reading!

P.S. Considering the premise of this story is centered around searching for Elena, I feel I should reiterate that this will most definitely be a slow burn with Bamon as endgame and is rated M for future chapters.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

 _"_ _Should we talk about the elephant in the room?"_

 _"_ _What elephant?"_

* * *

The last thing Damon expected to see when he woke up were Bonnie's verdant irises staring back at him. They hovered above him for less than a second before they disappeared so quickly he almost thought they were another dream. Even when he sat up and saw her standing beside the coffin, it took a second for him to realize that this was reality.

Bonnie Bennett was real, still alive and standing right in front of him.

A tidal wave of unexpected relief settled over him, and the fleeting thought of what he might have felt if he'd woken up to news of her death disbursed into a cloud of confusion as to why she'd woken him in the first place. The last time they spoke, Bonnie was less than pleased with him, and that was more than an understatement. So whatever the reason, he was certain it wasn't good.

The first words out of her mouth happened to be the answer to his question. At the news of Elena's disappearance, all semblance of good humor left his demeanor, and Damon questioned Bonnie only to discover that she barely knew anything. Stress and irritation bubbled up inside him. He had a feeling they were about to be dragged into the center of some plot and he was annoyed with Bonnie's nonchalant attitude about the whole situation. The knowledge that Elena was still alive was the only thing that quelled him. Even though they had no plan and nothing to go on, at least they knew she was still out there. He forced himself to remain cautiously optimistic. Elena being missing was a problem, but he was confident this wasn't anything that he and Bonnie couldn't handle if they put their heads together. They'd handled far worse situations than this.

There was something else though. While they spoke, he couldn't put his finger on it, but something about Bonnie was wrong. There was nothing noticeably strange about her appearance. She looked almost exactly the same as when he last saw her aside from the length of her hair. It was the only thing that had noticeably changed as her dark tresses now fell past her shoulders to the middle of her back in soft waves. The style suited her. The lifeless expression on her face, however, struck him as odd. The cold emotionless blank stare she sported was strange to him, and he could tell on some level that it was forced. Beyond that, the overall impression she gave off was in disagreement with his memory of her, but his concern for Elena at the time outweighed the minuscule observations he'd made, and they'd been sequestered to the back of his mind.

Her frigid demeanor could be easily attributed to the way he left things between them. He distinctly remembered their last conversation. What she said to him replayed on a loop in his head before he'd succumbed to desiccation. He'd hurt her. Damon understood she had a right to be upset at the way he left, but it was supposed to be worth it. She was supposed to have been better off without him. When Damon had begun the first stages of desiccation, he had told himself that it was for the best over and over again to justify his decision, and any sliver of regret he felt dissipated at his own assurances that with time she would understand why he did it and maybe even forgive him.

He was wrong.

It had been almost an hour and Damon was still reeling at the fact that Bonnie was a vampire, and not even just a vampire, but a vampire-witch, a hybrid of the heretic variety. It was unbelievable. He struggled to wrap his mind around the concept, the words Bonnie and vampire as one entity incompatible in his head. Before this moment, Damon had been certain before he desiccated that if Bonnie was ever somehow on the cusp of transitioning, she would choose death. She'd hated vampires, grew to tolerate them only because her best friends became one. Even then, she heavily disapproved of the whole craving human blood aspect of the vampire lifestyle. There was no way she was even remotely okay with this, and admittedly, even he wasn't completely okay with it. Never in any version of the future he imagined for her did he expect Bonnie to become a vampire. She was supposed to have a normal life, one where she grew old with someone and maybe popped out a few kids, but his little witch died again only eight years later and not only did she die, but she somehow managed to become a vampire-witch.

That wasn't supposed to happen. He had been the problem. He had been the one to put her in danger. She almost died more than once because of him and removing himself from the equation should have been the solution. His jaws clenched together, his mind inevitably centering on the question of whether she would have died if he'd been there. Maybe he could've saved her. Maybe she wouldn't be a vampire right now. Or maybe his being there wouldn't have mattered. The possibilities were endless and dwelling on the what-ifs was pointless. But the thoughts scratched at the back of his mind, festering until they manifested into some small mixture of guilt and regret he didn't want to feel.

He glanced at her.

She was nowhere near close to forgiving him. Outwardly she still looked stoic and unperturbed, but she was tense, and he was at least part of the reason why. After his attempted apology, it became abundantly clear to him that Bonnie wanted nothing to do with him. She hadn't said it in so many words, but he could tell in the way she spoke to him, in the way she barely looked at him, and how she would say nothing related to herself and what might have happened in the last eight years.

It made Damon curious.

Questions tumbled through his mind, but he held his tongue. For all her feigned stoicism, it was clear that Bonnie was in a bad mood and he was wise enough to leave well enough alone at least until she simmered down a bit. He was itching for answers though. Damon could only guess at what sort of trouble she'd gotten into while he'd been gone. Undoubtedly, something terrible had to have happened to her. There was no way he could see her ending up as vampire-witch otherwise.

Damon glanced at her again.

She was on her phone texting someone, the noise of her nails clicking against the screen and the quiet hum of the car engine the only sounds that broke the thick silence that had settled between them. She hadn't said a word since he'd vaguely told her where they were headed. Her fingers flitted away on her phone while Damon lost himself in his thoughts, but it was hard to ignore the strained atmosphere between them.

"How's my brother been?" His voice tore through the silence and her fingers stopped moving. He thought it best to start with a neutral topic and a question he genuinely wanted to know the answer to.

Bonnie looked up at him, meeting his eyes for a brief second before they went back to her phone. "Happy, last I heard."

"I'm assuming he's still prancing about with blondie?"

"They got married actually," Bonnie informed him. She closed her phone, turned it over and proceeded to look out the window, fixating her gaze on the streets while Damon deftly navigated through the New York City traffic.

Damon was moderately surprised by the news. He hadn't expected his brother to actually tie the knot with Caroline. Sure they had been tip toeing around a relationship before he left, but to think his little bro actually got married to her? Damon wasn't sure how to feel. It was strange to think of him as married, to think of Caroline as his sister-in-law. And in the back of his mind, even though he would never acknowledge it, he was slightly miffed that he wasn't woken for the occasion. "When was the wedding?"

"Last year. June. They've been in Europe since for their honeymoon."

Still? "And you haven't heard from them at all?"

She paused for a second before she answered. "Not for a while."

"How long is a while?" Damon pressed.

Another pause and a small shrug. "A couple of weeks maybe."

Maybe? There was something about the way she said it that made it seem like it had been more than just a few weeks. "You and barbie don't talk much?"

She continued to stare out the window. "She's on her honeymoon having the time of her life." Damon picked up on the sliver of resentment that slipped into her voice. Whether that resentment was because of the current situation or something else, Damon had no idea, but he changed the subject.

"How are the others, then?"

"They're fine." Her tone had an air of finality. Bonnie was done with the conversation, but Damon wasn't. He pressed her again for more information.

"Just fine?"

She rolled her eyes. "Let's not pretend you care about anyone other than Elena."

Damon bristled at that statement. She should know better. "You know that's not true." Before all was said and done, he thought he'd made it clear that she was not expendable to him, that he'd do whatever was necessary to keep her alive and not just because he wanted a witch in his back pocket. Bonnie had become more than that to him.

She scoffed.

"If you have something to say, say it."

She kept silent, and stared out the window, refusing to acknowledge him. Talking to her was like talking to a wall of ice.

Damon returned his focus to the road. He would be lying if he said her attitude didn't bother him. It was as if everything between them had deteriorated to a level where she was barely tolerating him. It was the same as before, not long after he ripped into her neck all those years ago. Maybe it was even worse than that. But if Bonnie wanted to stay mad at him, he would let her. He knew what his intentions were. He knew they were ultimately good regarding her. And if she refused to understand that, then that was on her. It wasn't his fault she died.

And yet his conscience warred with that last thought. He hated that he somehow felt partly responsible when his decision to leave could've just as likely had no bearing on whether or not she would have become a vampire. He frowned and inwardly, Damon scolded himself. He was acting too much like Stefan, brooding way too much over the situation. He needed to stop thinking. What was done was done. The only thing to do now was move forward.

"We're here." Damon pulled into a valet stand in front of a massive hotel. It looked extravagant on the inside, a place where only the elite of the elite in NYC might stay, but unfortunately, that wasn't where they were going. Bonnie took a deep breath. Damon exited the car and she followed. She stared at the hotel while he handed off the keys to a valet. Damon motioned for Bonnie to follow him and they walked past the hotel.

He led her around the corner and down an alleyway with a single door set into the grey brick in such a way that made it hard to see if one had no idea what they were looking for.

"Who exactly are we going to see again?" She glanced back in the direction of the hotel, but her sightline was met with the brick wall of the alleyway.

He led her deeper into the alley. "A bartender named Jay who likes to collect rumors and tends to know a lot of things that he shouldn't."

"And you think he might know about what happened to Elena?" Bonnie sounded skeptical and rightfully so. Damon was grasping at straws here.

"What I think is that we might be able to get a lead from him however small. But if you have a better idea, I'm all ears."

She didn't question him further. They came to a stop in front of the steel gray door more than halfway down the alley. Damon opened it for Bonnie and after a second's hesitation, she entered. He followed in behind her, allowing the door to close behind him with a loud click. Inside, the walls were painted a deep purple and four steps in front of them was a narrow black carpeted stairwell that descended three stories underground. The muted sound of music and conversation floated up towards them, and after another short pause at the top of the steps, Bonnie descended first with Damon at her heel.

In the eighties, the last time Damon had come here, the inside of this place had been on the verge of falling apart. Tasteless wallpaper had been peeling back to reveal mold gathering underneath and the stairwell had been made of old wood that creaked loudly with just the slightest pressure. If he recalled correctly, the building was built sometime during the 1800s and was taken over by vampires in the early 1900s, becoming a local watering hole for vampires who both lived in the city and were just visiting for a while. By the time Damon had come, the place had been overused and in desperate need of remodeling, and it appeared they'd done so. All the old was gone now, replaced with modern infrastructure and design.

At the bottom of the stairwell was another steel gray door and a tall burly man in all black casually leaning against the wall beside it. His appearance didn't scream vampire, but there was no doubt that he most certainly was one and judging from his all black uniform, he was probably a bouncer. Another feature that hadn't been here before. The man was entirely disinterested in the arrival of Bonnie and Damon and seemed to pay them no mind until Damon reached out to grab the door. "Hold on," the man said as he took a second glance. "I can't let you two in there dressed like that."

Damon stepped back from the door and turned to face the bouncer. Since when was there a dress code? "I'm sure you can make an exception. I'm an old friend of Jay's only here to speak with him for a few minutes. We're not planning to stay for long."

He eyed Damon. "Name?"

"Damon Salvatore."

The man turned away and spoke into an ear piece.

While they waited, Damon noticed Bonnie's eyes were trained on the man, studying his every move as she covertly strained to listen to what he was saying with no luck. He was speaking far too quietly to be heard by other vampires. Damon looked back at him. At the same time, the man turned around and gestured towards the door, giving them permission to enter.

Once again, Damon opened the door for Bonnie, following behind her through the doorway. Inside, the place was enormous, bigger than Damon remembered. A tasteful mixture of modern and older decorum made for a lavish atmosphere tempered only by the obnoxious pop songs reverberating from the DJ booth. The floors were a polished dark cherry wood, and the furniture was composed of dark red contemporary pieces that were too square-shaped to be appealing to him. Compared to forty years ago, the place looked far more like an upscale night club than the old pub it used to be, and Damon had much preferred the appearance of the latter.

The two of them headed straight for the bar lining the other side of the room. It was still a bit early, so the bar area was mostly empty. People were either scattered across the room in whatever cushioned seating was available or on the dance floor on the other side of the place where Damon spotted another entrance that likely connected to the hotel. He lead Bonnie through the sparse crowds. While they walked, her eyes were constantly moving about, surveying the room. In a similar manner, Damon also let his eyes roam around the room, his gaze catching those of a few groups of people whose eyes immediately went to them, disdain evident in their features. The bouncer hadn't been kidding. They were completely underdressed and stuck out like sore thumbs. Everyone else wore impeccably tailored suits and designer dresses. Meanwhile, both he and Bonnie were in simple black t-shirts and dark jeans, except she wore a black leather jacket to match. Scornful stares followed them through the room.

Only two people sat at the bar drinking away and the bartender stood in conversation with one of them while he cleaned a glass. Jay looked the same as ever, except it seemed he traded his plaid shirts for a tailored suit to match the pretentious air of the place. As they approached, Jay's face lit up with recognition at the sight of Damon and he put down the glass he had been cleaning and briefly said a few words to the man sitting in front of him before moving towards the empty spaces that Damon and Bonnie were headed towards. "If it isn't Damon fucking Salvatore." He looked him up and down. "They told me you were here to see me, and I almost didn't believe it." His eyes slipped over to Bonnie beside him for a second before returning to Damon. He grinned, but his eyes were hard. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

Damon's lips curved slightly upwards in a derisive smile. "Good to see you too."

"Forgive me if I don't seem happy to see you, but the last time I saw you, you almost had this place destroyed." Damon rolled his eyes. It was inevitable that Jay would bring up the disaster that Damon had caused the last time he came here. To make a long story short, Damon had wreaked quite a bit of havoc around this area and drew the attention of a group of witches who saw it fit to attempt to eradicate the vampire presence in New York. He'd irresponsibly caused this place to become one of their targets, but in the end, he'd helped fix it by killing a few of the witches involved and in the process, he'd saved Jay's ungrateful ass from becoming witch-fodder.

Damon smirked, "But it wasn't destroyed, and if I recall correctly, I just so happened to save your life."

"Yes, and for that reason alone, I've allowed you to return here. But know that if you cause me trouble while you're in the city this time, things will go badly for you. Now," he leaned back on his heels. "It's obvious you two aren't here for leisure so before I ask you why you've come to bother me, can I get you both something to drink?"

"Bourbon neat." Damon requested. Both he and Jay looked towards Bonnie at the same time.

"I'll have the same," she said.

Jay walked away. Bonnie remained silent, but her eyes continued to dart around the room, lingering for a brief second on every individual in view until Jay returned with their drinks. Bonnie immediately took a large swig just as Damon and Jay began to talk again.

"It's obvious you aren't here for small talk, so I won't waste any time. What do you want, Damon?"

Damon ignored the subtle threat in his words. "Taking into consideration how the last time I was here, I saved your life, I'd say you owe me."

"That's a stretch _taking into consideration_ that you were the reason my life was in danger in the first place but go on. I'm assuming you're here because you think I might know something you don't. Ask what you will and I might have an answer."

"I need to know if you've heard anything strange lately," Damon started.

"What a vague inquiry," Jay tilted his head to the side. "That depends on what you consider strange."

"Anything unusual."

Jay took a moment to think, tapping his fingers against the bar. "Alright. I'm sure you've heard about the recent disappearances out west, the droves of vampires and entire covens that have been going missing without any explanation."

"Entire covens?" Damon raised a single eyebrow.

"One in California, one in Mississippi, and one in Kansas. I've been hearing about it from out of towners for quite a few months now, and it's causing a bit of chaos because no one knows who to blame. You have witches thinking its vampires killing off covens and you have vampires thinking it's the witches who are causing the disappearances. Then there are some people who still think it's the hunters." He waved a hand in the air dismissively. "Next thing you know, we'll all be killing each other again. You know how these things go."

"You don't think it's the hunters?" Bonnie asked, sounding genuinely interested in the information.

Jay turned towards her. "They've been a problem for everyone lately, but hunters tend to leave some evidence of a body behind. People have just been disappearing without a trace, never to be heard from again. But I have a feeling you didn't come here just to hear about that. What is it you're really looking for?"

For a split second, Damon debated on just how much he should tell him. The less he revealed about Elena, the better. Jay had a big mouth and the more vampires knew about her, the more danger she would be in even after they rescued her. "We're searching for rumors about a cure."

"A cure?"

"For vampires," he elaborated.

Damon didn't miss the flicker of surprise that shot through his eyes before they passively regarded him. "You think such a thing exists?"

"Possibly," Damon said vaguely.

Jay hummed, lost in thought for a moment until his eyes snapped back towards Damon. "Wait, why exactly are you looking for a cure? And don't tell me _you_ want to be human again."

"I'm looking into it for a friend."

Jay's gaze immediately went to Bonnie as if to imply that she was the friend in question. She quickly corrected his assumption, shaking her head as she pointed a finger between her and Damon. "Oh, we're not friends."

Damon rolled his eyes and Jay looked between the two of them, interest piqued. "Oh? I'm sensing a bit of friction." Jay leaned towards her and gave her an appraising stare that Bonnie returned with a blank face. "I didn't catch your name earlier?"

Bonnie hesitated for a slight moment, and sensing her reluctance, Damon intercepted his inquiry. "Have you heard anything about a cure or not?"

Jay stared at Bonnie for a moment longer before his gaze returned to Damon. "Not recently, but I heard it might exist some years ago."

"From who?"

"I didn't catch her name, but she was a witch. One of the clairvoyant types if I recall correctly."

That drew Bonnie's attention. "Was she a pale skinned brunette with long hair?" She asked.

"Hmm. She did have that sort of appearance."

That couldn't be a coincidence. If this was the witch who Bonnie said killed Tyler and she knew about the cure, then Tyler's death had to somehow be connected to Elena's disappearance. And this witch might be the one who has Elena.

"Did she wear a silver ring, one with the shape of a lotus flower and a ruby stone inlaid in the center?"

Jay pursed his lips. "I believe so, but I don't quite remember. Do you know her?"

"Not personally, no. But do you know where we might be able to find her?"

Jay hummed. "Unfortunately, I met her over five years ago and I have no idea where she might be at the moment, but she did mention that she was from Chicago so maybe you might be able to find her there."

Bonnie offered him a brief word of thanks, took another sip of her bourbon, and looked off into the small crowd of people dancing across the room.

Jay glanced between the two of them again. "So what's the story here? There's clearly some obvious tension between the two of you." As he asked the question, Bonnie's attention returned to him, but she said nothing.

Damon shrugged and gave him the abridged version. "We were friends, I did something she didn't like, and now she hates me." He took another drink.

Bonnie rolled her eyes at his oversimplified description, but still didn't bother to say anything.

"But you're searching for the cure together…for a mutual friend?" Damon was familiar with how Jay liked to keep prying. It would be one question here another question there, and the next thing you knew Jay would discover your whole life story if he wanted to. With Damon and Bonnie, he was trying to put the puzzle together, but Damon refused to give him all the pieces.

"It's a long story, one that I don't have the time to tell you."

A small smile spread across Jay's face. "I take it you're over Katherine then."

Damon paused at the sudden mention of the woman he spent the majority of his life searching for. Of course Jay would bring her up since she was the reason he'd first come here though Damon was hoping he wouldn't. It was after hearing how a man named Jay might be able to help him find who he was looking for that Damon had been directed to this place and ended up asking Jay for the whereabouts of a witch who he thought might be able to help him find Katherine and had, unusually, after a few too many drinks, divulged quite a bit of the story of him and Katherine.

"Katherine is dead to me."

"Yes, I heard the lovely doppelganger perished. It's a shame. I met her not long after you left Damon, and she had quite the personality. I can see why you were so enthralled by her charm."

And that was his cue to leave. He downed the rest of his drink and stood, giving Bonnie a pointed look. She started to do the same. "As much as I'd _love_ to sit here and talk about Katherine, we need to get going."

"Suit yourself. But before you leave," Jay stared at Bonnie, the look in his eyes immediately putting Damon on edge. "I do have one question, and the answer to this question will determine whether I'll permit you to leave here alive or not," his voice took on a darker tone with the implication of threat.

Sensing that things were likely about to go sour very quickly, Damon tensed and flexed his fingers. He was hoping this visit would be quick one with minimal conflict. but if Jay wanted to die today, so be it. Damon had no qualms against killing him.

"You told me you're looking to find a cure," he addressed them both, "but you," he stared at Bonnie, "I didn't recognize you at first. It took me a second to see it, but I know who you are and what you've done, and I need you to tell me why I shouldn't have him killed for bringing you here and you killed in order to protect this place."

What the hell was he talking about? Bonnie's eyes remained fixated on Jay, but Damon gave Bonnie a questioning look that Jay caught immediately. He looked back and forth between their faces. "You don't know who she is?" Jay chuckled. "Well allow me to enlighten you. A few years ago, vampires were dying left and right up and down the east coast. It came to my attention from a few that were lucky to escape that these deaths were caused by a single woman, one they called the huntress, and you fit her description to a tee." He paused. "Even if you are a vampire, considering the current issue with hunters and the rumors that they've formed a coalition, I can't take any chances. For all I know you could be working with them."

Bonnie held Jay's gaze for a long moment before she began to speak. "I no longer hunt vampires. I haven't for a long time, even before I became one. But whether you choose to believe that or not, I honestly don't give a shit. Just know that if you choose to attack me, I will burn this place to the ground." She calmly threatened him, a quiet confidence radiating from her.

Jay laughed, but Bonnie was wholly serious. "You think you could destroy this place? Do you know who my proprietor is? You have no idea who you're messing with."

"Neither do you."

What happened next occurred in the blink of an eye. Bonnie shot across the bar, one of her legs bending across the countertop as she grabbed Jay by his shirt and pulled him towards her. Security gathered around them in an instant, but Jay put his hand up as she began to whisper something in his ear too low for anyone else to hear. Damon stood beside her, tense from having half moved to action the moment security surrounded them and watching as Bonnie said something that made Jay's expression gradually change to shock and then slowly, she moved away from him.

He stared at her for a moment longer with a disturbed look on his face before he relented. "Fine." He dismissed the security with a flick of his hand. "If what you say is true, which, knowing what I know, I somehow don't think you're lying, I don't want that kind of trouble. You can leave." And just like that, the situation was diffused.

Without another word, Bonnie began to walk away. They headed for the door immediately, Damon trailing behind her. His disappointment at not having an excuse to kill Jay mixed with his curiosity at what exactly Bonnie had said to him. Based on his response, it had obviously been some kind of threat, one that must have had some clout to make Jay dismiss them so quickly, but what kind of leverage could Bonnie have to use as a threat that would scare even Jay off.

Once they were outside, he asked her what she'd said to make him let them go.

"Does it matter? He let us go, didn't he?" was her response.

Of course she would dismiss his question. He wasn't sure why he expected otherwise.

Bonnie remained completely silent on their way back to retrieve the car and a few minutes after Damon had gotten settled behind the wheel, she spoke out of the blue, "We go to Chicago, look into this witch, and if that doesn't work out, then what?"

Damon shrugged. This was the only lead they had and he didn't want to think about it not panning out. He kept his eyes on the road ahead of him as they made their way out of the city, and his thoughts went back to Bonnie, to the revelation that she had been a huntress. Damon was curious to know exactly what that meant and exactly just what happened to her in his absence, but Bonnie was clearly averse to having any sort of conversation with him outside of necessity. It was irritating, frustrating and the lack of knowledge about her was weighing on his mind yet again after what just happened.

Instinctively, Damon understood that Bonnie was not the same, but just how much about her had changed before she'd become a vampire. What had he missed besides the fact that she'd gone through a period where she'd become a huntress? How did she go from that to vampire-witch? All of these unanswered questions were irritating the shit out of him. He did not like being left in the dark. Especially not by her. Not when what they had, the bond they shared forged through working together, through _dying_ together, had been stronger than this.

He sighed. In his 183 years of living, Damon never thought he would feel this troubled over a relationship with a woman he hadn't even had sex with, but he and Bonnie were always different. With all that they'd been through in Mystic Falls, he'd never had a friendship quite like theirs. And that was probably why even before he'd desiccated he'd started to screw it up. Like with everyone else who could even remotely be considered his friend, Damon had begun to sabotage their relationship with his own selfishness. His desiccation was supposed to be a remedy to all that, a selfless act for the betterment of those he cared about. But look at what they'd become. Bonnie would barely speak to him, barely even look at him.

His mind rebelled against past sentimentality on principle, but the thoughts wouldn't leave him. He'd broken their relationship with his decision to desiccate, a relationship that, if things had panned out, would only exist as a memory in his head and would've only existed as a memory in her head if she was still human. Damon wasn't dumb. He knew that was why she acted this way, why she was keeping her distance from him. And maybe he'd gone too far this time. Maybe it would never be the same again. But even so, he wanted the old Bon-bon back, the one who didn't hate him, the one who didn't look at him with no expression on her face, the one who despite however he fucked up would still be there for him at the end of the day.

Damon looked over at her, watching as she stared off at the road ahead of them, deep in her own thoughts. He would fix it, eventually. Maybe not at this exact moment or any time in the near future, but at least now he had forever.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hello again! Thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed, and favorited! Y'all really lit a fire under my ass to sit down and try to flesh out my plans for this story though even after trying to do so, I still kinda have no idea what I'm doing lol.

But how did I do with Damon? I went back and forth over changing this to Bonnie's perspective, but ultimately decided to just go with Damon because I wanted to show a little bit of what's going on inside of his head. But getting a grip on Damon's inner workings is tough for me and I'm still not sure how I feel about it, so please let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

 _"_ _Your relationship with him…It ended pretty abruptly."_

 _"_ _It wasn't abrupt. In hindsight, I saw the end coming. We both did. The feelings were there, but something was missing. Something had always been missing."_

* * *

Bonnie would rather be anywhere else in the world than trapped in a car next to him. It was hard for her to be in his presence. Her vampire senses were hyper aware of him. Her focus was drawn to every little movement he made while driving her car, and no matter how much Bonnie tried to pretend he wasn't there, her mind was stuck on the fact that he was. His presence had become a plague on her senses, and she wanted nothing more than to escape.

The reason behind this was because her emotions were still frayed, and the source of her disquiet was sitting next to her. Yet though Bonnie recognized this as the immediate cause, she refused to acknowledge the underlying reason. It wasn't hard for her to understand if she would only admit the truth to herself. What Damon did somehow hurt her more than anyone who's ever abandoned her in life, maybe even more than her own mother.

These days, whenever Bonnie thought of her Abby's abandonment, she barely felt anything. Whatever ill-will she bore towards the woman had withered away with time. Bonnie didn't accept her actions. They were still inexcusable to her. But she accepted that they happened and that there was nothing she could do to change that. In doing so, she was able to move forward in her relationship with her mother, albeit that relationship was still almost non-existent.

In contrast, the thought of Damon leaving her left her with nothing but indignation. She couldn't imagine getting over what he'd done. Maybe it was the freshness of the wound, torn open by having to see him again. Or maybe it was something else. Whatever the reason, those flares of anger she masked over with indifference whenever she thought of his abandonment were the real reason her brain was so focused on him, but the last thing Bonnie wanted to do was let go and move forward. For what he did, he deserved every bit of her fury for as long as she could hold onto it.

The sound of his shirt shifting against his skin as he moved his hands along the wheel interrupted her thoughts, and she closed her eyes, trying to think of anything else besides him. But that failed when he opened his mouth to speak.

"So you were a huntress…"

She had somewhat expected him to question her about being a huntress and was half surprised he'd waited until after they'd already been in the car for almost thirty minutes. "I was a huntress," she repeated, not wanting to delve into the topic.

Reflecting on what happened earlier, she regretted tagging along with Damon into the building. The moment they walked in, there was a chance that someone might recognize her and Bonnie had been on the lookout for anyone who might pose a threat to her, but she highly doubted anyone would know who she was. The last thing she expected was for someone to recognize her from when she was a huntress, but she should've known better. She should've just stayed back with the car. That way she wouldn't have had to reveal what she'd revealed to Jay to get him to back down.

It had been a gamble. For all she knew, he wouldn't have known what she was talking about or he might not have believed her. Fortunately, he did, and they'd managed to leave without her having to reveal she was a vampire-witch by burning the place to the ground. That would've been a far worse outcome.

Still, it may have been worth it because the visit was surprisingly useful. When Damon told her where they were going and who they were going to see, Bonnie doubted they would garner any information relevant to searching for Elena, but to think Jay met the witch who Bonnie saw in her vision of Tyler's death. That was certainly an interesting coincidence, and he'd mentioned some interesting information. Bonnie had suspected that hunters were organizing themselves and Jay's worries only further confirmed her suspicions.

She yawned and Damon tapped his fingers lightly against the wheel, drawing her from her thoughts again. "Were you the Rayna kind of huntress, or…"

For a second, she debated on not answering him, but concluded that it didn't matter if he knew. "Exactly like Rayna. It was Rayna's last life that was transferred to me."

"So she's dead for good then. But how is it that you were the one her last life was transferred to?"

She shook her head. "It became the only way for me to survive." That was as far as she would go. Explaining the events that led up to her becoming a huntress and then the painfully lonely experience of being a huntress would be reopening another wound that was fully closed, and she wasn't going to reopen it just to satisfy his curiosity.

If Damon was about to say anything else, it was lost to the sudden vibration of Bonnie's phone in her pocket. Bonnie reached into her jacket and pulled it out. She looked at the screen and seeing who it was, she looked at Damon who gave her a cursory glance, then back at her phone. She sighed as she answered, bringing the phone to her ear.

"Hey love," Bonnie knew Damon would recognize his voice the moment she answered the phone. "I got your message and Alaric called me as well. I have no idea who might be behind this, but I spent some time looking into the armory files and seeing if I could find something of use. I found one on a witch they were tracking who was interested in creation magic and it might be a long shot, but there was a note in there about her interest in solving the vampire problem through a possible cure she was looking into. The details are hazy, but her name is Jennifer Ross and she lives in Chicago working as a professor at the University there. I'll send you the address."

"Thanks."

There was a short pause. "You aren't doing this alone are you?"

Bonnie stopped herself from glancing over at Damon as she debated on whether or not she should tell Enzo who she was working with. Enzo, however, took her silence as an affirmative answer to his question. "What's your next move? I could meet up with you, help you with this."

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"You know I can't help that."

Bonnie ignored the tender cadence in his voice. She chewed her lip. "I have to go."

"Call me if you need anything else, love."

Bonnie hung up and waited for it.

Damon was quiet for only three seconds before he commented. "You and Enzo sound chummy. And by chummy, I mean-"

"I know what you mean," she cut him off. "We were together, but we're not anymore."

"No?"

He seemed to expect an elaboration, but she wouldn't give him one. Damon did not need to know her business, and she didn't want his opinion on any aspect of her love life. He stared at her for a beat longer before his attention turned back to the road, but he was unable to let the subject go.

After another minute he said, "I'm trying to think of a reason you and Enzo might've had a relationship, but every reason I have falls short of him being the last person left on earth." Damon snorted. "Last I remember, you were cutting off his hand to save me."

Bonnie said nothing in response. The truth was not that far off if she thought about that statement. The only reason she and Enzo had gotten together in the first place had been because of how much time they spent alone together when she was locked away in that cabin during the period she was being hunted by The Armory. She'd fallen in love with his romantic nature and she'd been physically attracted to him, but circumstances withstanding, she couldn't see herself ever actually being with Enzo before then. She had never even looked twice at him.

But now he'd carved himself a place in her heart and Bonnie would never regret their relationship. Enzo had been good to her and she was almost sorry their relationship had ended. They were good as a couple. Under the surface, however, there were a myriad of issues that they'd avoided, but the things they left unsaid were only a part of their downfall. Bonnie hadn't been sure she was ready for the kind of commitment that he wanted from her. Enzo wanted longevity. He wanted forever, and Bonnie thought she wanted that too, but his version of forever and her version of forever were two different things.

It was inevitable that Enzo would live a longer life than her, and she would have been lying if she had said she wasn't worried about him out living her and what that would mean as she got older. It wasn't as if she didn't believe he wouldn't love her but imagining herself as old and decrepit while he was still his pristine vampiric self put an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Of course there were spells she could do to lengthen her own life, but at what cost. Bonnie had seen those types of spells before and there was no little price to pay to extend her life for more than her allotted time on this earth. She'd also considered finding a spell to retain her youthful appearance, live out her days with him while hiding her aging appearance. The idea of that, however, always felt disingenuous to her. Bonnie had always felt she should be able to grow old with someone and still feel loved by that person no matter what her appearance looked like, and unfortunately, vampirism had not been in the cards back then. She wouldn't have given up her magic for anyone, not even Enzo. Bonnie was done being powerless.

These had all been her own insecurities though. Things she knew she shouldn't have been worrying about while they were together when the future she thought of was so far off. And despite these worries, Bonnie had been willing to get over it for the sake of their relationship, but somehow she still let their relationship fall apart anyway.

She wrinkled her nose in slight irritation. Thinking about this was putting her in a somber mood. Bonnie hadn't regretted ending their relationship, she only regretted the way it ended with them barely speaking to one another. And even though they had promised to at least be better friends with one another, they had still fallen out of contact for the most part.

Willing her mind to shut down on the matter, Bonnie settled back into her seat. It had been days since she'd slept properly, and she was thoroughly exhausted. Futilely, she tried to fight off the oncoming cloud of sleep, but her exhaustion was too much, and she quickly succumbed to darkness.

When Bonnie next awoke, they were pulled into a gas station. Her limbs felt stiff and unused like she'd been asleep for a long while. It was still dark out, but she sensed it wouldn't be long before the sun would rise. She yawned and stretched in her seat, feeling rested for the first time in the last few days. Thankfully, she hadn't had another one of her nightmares.

Looking over beside her, Damon was nowhere to be found. Even when she peeped out the windows, he was still nowhere in sight. Yet the smell of him still heavily lingered inside of the car, so he must not have been gone for long.

Bonnie opened the car door and stepped out to stretch her legs. Leaning against the door, she began to check her phone for any new messages. At the next pump, a woman minded her business, getting her own gas, doing nothing unusual, but Bonnie found herself looking up from her phone and staring. The woman's pulse drew her attention, the steady hum of the blood flowing through her veins vibrated in Bonnie's ears, and her gums started to itch. It had been a while since she'd eaten. She licked her lips, but then a body moved in front of her, blocking her view.

"I see sleeping beauty has awakened." Damon held out a cup of coffee for her. "Thought you might like some."

She looked towards the cups, the strong smell of coffee wafting through the air. Damon held out one of them towards her and she took it. Inhaling the delicious scent of coffee, her brow furrowed as another mouth-watering smell mingling with the coffee caught her attention.

"It's coffee mixed with a bit of A-positive from one of the bags you had in the cooler you keep back there," he explained, pointing towards the trunk. Damon stared at her expectantly when she didn't move and only stared at the cup in her hands.

Slowly, she took a sip and paused. It was made just how she liked it, but it tasted even better with the blood mixed in. She glanced at Damon to find his eyes on her, watching as she took another sip. "Good?" He asked, earnestly searching for her approval.

"It's fine."

"Just fine?"

"Okay. It's good," she admitted.

"Is it enough," Damon moved beside her, "or did you want something more filling?" He turned around and meaningfully stared at the woman Bonnie had been looking at. Her thumb played with the ring on her index finger while she looked at the woman again, the sound of her pulse drawing Bonnie's attention once more, but she forced herself to ignore the woman's blood. In this instant, it occurred to Bonnie that Damon was probably curious as to whether she drank from the source or not.

"This is fine."

One corner of his lips quirked upwards as she brought the cup to her mouth again. "How have you been dealing with the bloodlust by the way?" Placing his cup on top of the car, he opened up the gas tank and placed the nozzle inside, starting the pump.

"I've been handling it, not that it's any of your concern."

"No control issues?" He sounded surprised.

"None."

"Why do I get the feeling that you're lying?"

"Not everyone lacks restraint like you."

"You should know by now that my lack of restraint is a choice. I can control myself when I want to because I've gotten used to the hunger over the years, but I remember what it feels like to be a newborn vampire wanting to gorge yourself every waking moment, never feeling satisfied after just one bite, always wanting just one more drop. There's no need to be ashamed Bon-bon. Every vampire experiences that."

Annoyance seeped into her voice. "I'm not a newborn vampire. I wasn't turned yesterday, Damon."

"Okay, toddler vampire then."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm managing myself just fine."

"If you need any pointers…"

"Yeah, sure," Bonnie dismissed him. If she did need help, Damon was the last person she would go to. She turned away from him and got back in the car, effectively ending their conversation.

A click signaled the gas finishing and Damon removed the pump before getting into the driver's seat. He pulled off, speedily making his way back onto the highway with no regard for any safety. At least if they got into an accident, the likelihood of Bonnie living was far higher than it used to be.

Bonnie looked out the window, "Where are we?"

"We're in Ohio. Couple more hours left."

She almost regretted drinking the coffee until she took another sip and the warm mixture of coffee and blood slid across her tongue.

The silence lasted for a couple of minutes before Damon turned on the radio. It was on an oldies station, and he left it there. He turned up the music a little bit, letting it fill the car, then reached for his own cup of coffee and drank a bit of it. The sound of the liquid going down his throat echoed in her eardrums, but she let it be drowned out by the sound of the music playing through the car. She reached for her cup again at the same time Damon reached for his and their hands brushed against one another, a faint shock curling under her skin that made her tense. Bonnie looked at Damon, but he paid her no mind and went about drinking his coffee.

Bonnie forced herself to relax in her seat and let herself focus on the music and she was fine for a while until a Salt-N-Pepa song came on, the same song she'd caught Damon dancing to in the kitchen a few times while he made pancakes in 1994. For a moment, she lost herself in the memory.

 _It was three_ _weeks after they'd died when Bonnie and Damon were still barely tolerating one another. The night before, she and Damon had another full-blown argument, one where they blamed each other for everything that had led up to them being trapped together in the prison world. It wasn't anything new. After Bonnie had moved in to the boarding house, they'd had their fair share of arguments where they played the blame game. And twice already Bonnie had left for a day only to come back the next and for them to act like nothing had happened. Damon had left just once before yesterday. She'd said some pretty hurtful things to him about his obsession with Katherine and Elena and questioned how he could betray his own brother. Then she'd called him a rotten person at his core and told him that the world would have been better off if he'd never been born. Damon usually brushed these kinds of comments off when they argued, but last night something she'd said made him stand up and walk off without another word. The last time he left, he was gone for a whole day, but from the sound of things he had already returned and was downstairs in the kitchen making breakfast._

 _Freshly showered, Bonnie made her way downstairs and wandered into the kitchen. There she found Damon awkwardly dancing along to Salt-N-Pepa's "Whatta Man" for the second time, the occasional lyric slipping from his mouth. When he saw her approaching, he bid her a quick good morning and she did the same, the argument from the day before seemingly completely forgotten. Bonnie slowly came to a stop in front of him, her eyebrows raised. Damon had watched her approach him, eyes raking over her outfit of the day and stopping on the expanse of her legs exposed from the short shorts she wore._

 _"_ _Don't stop on my account," she said._

 _He shook his head as she came closer and leaned onto the counter beside him. She stared at what he was making though from the smell she had already known what she would find in the pan._

 _"_ _Pancakes again…really?"_

 _His blue eyes playfully met hers as he waved the spatula in the air. "Don't pretend you don't love my pancakes Bon-bon."_

 _"_ _I don't," she said, grabbing a blueberry from the bowl on the counter in front of her and popping it into her mouth._

 _"_ _Every day I make them and every day you complain and eat them anyway. Explain that."_

 _"_ _I don't like to be wasteful."_

 _He winked at her. "Sure."_

 _She rolled her eyes and moved to make them some coffee. She pulled out two mugs when the song changed and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Damon awkwardly dancing again if what he was doing could even be called that. Bonnie resisted the urge to smile at him as she poured the water in the coffee maker, put the ground coffee beans in and pressed the on-button. She watched Damon all the while, saying a few of the lyrics herself. When he heard her start to sing a bit, he turned towards her, a wide smile on his face. Their eyes met, he wiggled his eyebrows, and this time she couldn't help the reluctant smile that came to her face. "What's got you in such a good mood?"_

 _He shrugged, returning his attention to his pancakes before he burnt them. "Like you said before, there's no use in being mad for long when we're all we've got."_

 _"_ _Hold the phone. Are you agreeing with me on something again?"_

 _His lips quirked up into a smirk and he waved the spatula in her direction. "Don't get used to it Bennett."_

Back then, everything had been easier, forgiveness had been easier. She had gotten past hating him and being trapped with him in 1994 left the door open for the strong bond of friendship that emerged between them. But he'd discarded that friendship and now she was back to hating him. Though hate was not quite the right word for what she felt. Her feelings towards him were more complex than she cared to admit. She hated what he did, was furious with him for it, but the thought of him abandoning her also made her heart ache all over again though she would never admit that aloud.

She reached out and pressed the button to shut off the radio a little too hard. Damon said nothing, but she could feel his gaze on her. Though she hadn't wanted it, Bonnie had his attention now. More than likely, he could tell her mind had wandered to 1994 and whatever she had been thinking upset her.

"Bonnie," the tone of his voice and the way it carried through the sounds of her full name sent off warning signals in her head. "You should know that I am sorry for what I did, but you have to understand that I did it because-"

"Stop it," she cut him off. This was another attempt at an apology that she had no desire to hear. "I don't _have_ to understand anything. And if I hadn't made it clear before, here's me saying it directly, I don't care about whether you're sorry and I don't want to hear whatever ridiculous excuse you've cooked up inside your head to explain yourself. Your actions already said it all. So drop the subject, and don't ever bring it up to me again."

Damon opened his mouth to say something else and Bonnie braced herself for whatever would come out, steeling herself for an argument, but he shut his mouth a second later, pursing his lips thoughtfully. Abruptly, he changed his tone. "Alright then. Should we play a game to pass the time?" He shot her a forced smile to go along with his forced jovial attitude. "How about 'I spy'?"

Bonnie had often wondered what went through his head in moments like these where he would go from a serious subject to something frivolous. It was like a switch he flicked on and off inside himself. Unfortunately, this was a bad habit of his she hadn't missed. It only served to further annoy her, and she shouldn't have said anything. She should have just kept silent. Instead, she allowed herself to respond in kind.

"Mmm, no" Bonnie said, matching his tone. "But I know! How about we play the quiet game? First one to talk gets an aneurysm?" Bonnie looked pointedly at Damon, and his face fell.

The next three hours were spent in silence.

As the Chicago city limits were in sight, Bonnie's phone rang again. She straightened up from her position leaning against the window and pulled her phone from her pocket. It was Enzo again. Hopefully, he was calling because he had more information to share.

"Did you find out anything else?" She asked him immediately.

"I'm in Chicago."

Okay. That wasn't what she'd been expecting him to say. "Why are you in Chicago?" She asked slowly.

"I'll let you guess the answer to that for yourself."

Bonnie let out a long sigh. "Enzo, go home. I don't need your help."

"No. I'm not letting you do this alone. I know how you get."

"I'm not alone," she admitted.

There was a short pause where Enzo was probably going through all the people she might be with in his head. She could feel his disapproval through the phone, but that would be nothing when he found out who she was actually with. "Is _she_ with you? Are _they_ with you?" It seems he narrowed down his suspects.

"No." Bonnie still hesitated to tell him.

When she didn't respond right away, Enzo continued. "Come meet me at least," he said. "I've brought the file on the witch from the Armory. It might be helpful for you to take a look." Bonnie opened her mouth to respond, but she took too long again. "I'll send you my location." He hung up. Bonnie resisted the urge to bring a hand to her forehead in frustration.

"Detour?" Damon asked.

Bonnie chewed on her lip, her phone lighting up as Enzo sent her his location. He was likely using the file as an excuse to see her, but the thought of being face to face with him filled her with anxiety.

"Yeah," she said, despite her feelings on the matter. Might as well rip the band-aid off now.

"Does he know what you are?" Damon's voice cut through her thoughts.

Bonnie wondered what made Damon ask her that, but instead of avoiding his question, she answered truthfully. "He doesn't know." Part of her anxiety stemmed from Enzo finding out what she'd become, hearing his disapproval and his inevitable attempts to blame those who were there for her during her transition. It might be almost as bad as dealing with Damon. Or maybe he might just stare at her with disappointment, his eyes conveying the message _I told you so._ No matter what, his reaction would be negative.

"Does anyone in Mystic Falls gang know?"

"None of them know."

If Damon had any comment regarding that, he thankfully kept it to himself.

For Bonnie, the last thirty minutes before they would meet Enzo felt far too long. He wanted to see her even before she had called him for help with this, but Bonnie had avoided most of his calls. The two times she had answered, he had been too affectionate and reminiscent of their past together. It went unsaid, but Bonnie was sure he was seeking to rekindle their relationship, so she had avoided talking to him since, unsure of her own feelings on the matter.

Soon, they were pulling into the empty part of a shopping center parking lot where Enzo clearly stood outside of his car. Damon pulled up across from him, and as he came to a stop in the parking space across from him, Bonnie could see Enzo's face gradually change to shock and then something colder when his eyes landed on Damon.

"Stay here." Bonnie got out of the car, not bothering to acknowledge whatever Damon said as she closed the door behind her. As she walked over to Enzo, her ears registered Damon getting out of the car behind her, but she kept her gaze on Enzo who met her halfway. "Hello love." All warmth was gone from his voice.

"Enzo."

"I see you weren't lying when you said you weren't alone." He nodded in Damon's direction.

She and Enzo stared at one another. Enzo's gaze went from her head to her toes and back again, a frown slowly coming across his face. Something he saw or heard must have tipped him off to her present condition. "Something's different."

She looked away from him. "That may be because I'm a vampire."

His jaws clenched together, anger clear on his face. "Did he do this?" His eyes flicked behind her to where Damon stood, leaning against the car.

"He has nothing to do with me being a vampire. I was turned three months ago. He's been awake for less than twenty-four hours."

"Three months?" They had spoken to each other once these past three months, and she could have told him then, but she hadn't wanted him to know. She didn't want to deal with his reaction.

The expression on his face twisted, showing that he was upset that she hadn't told him, but he had no right to be. They weren't together, and they were barely even friends. "How did it happen?"

She shrugged indifferently. "I was killed with vampire blood in my system," was all she said, and her snark went unappreciated. Enzo gave her a look, and she merely stared back at him.

"I will make it my mission in life to kill every last one of those miscreants you've aligned yourself with."

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Don't be stupid. You knowing how it happened will change nothing, and they have nothing to do with this."

"They should've protected you. If I had been there-

"You what? _You_ would have protected me?" She was always the damsel in distress to him and it irritated her that Enzo always underestimated her, always thought she needed protection and couldn't handle herself. This was a product of their time spent together in the cabin when he was protecting her from the Armory. He gave her pills that suppressed her magic to hide her from them and those pills made her weak and eventually almost killed her. Becoming a huntress had been the only way for her to continue on, but at the cost of her magic. And afterwards, when she lost her powers, it had been the beginning of the end for them.

He sighed, lowering his voice and stepping closer to her. "I know this isn't what you wanted."

She lowered her voice as well, but her eyes remained hard. "This is what I am now, what I _chose_ to let myself become _,_ and I refuse to hate myself for it."

He chuckled sharply, shaking his head. "It's funny. All your worries about us and look at what happens." He looked away from her, running a hand through his hair. "I thought that maybe I made a mistake in letting you go, and that I might have a chance to make us work again after what you said the last time we talked, but it's clear that there's no hope for us."

She wasn't sure what exactly she said to give him hope. For her, him wanting to get back together with her was coming from left field. "I don't understand. We both agreed to split, but you were the one who started to put distance between us, you were the one who said that we should go our separate ways. What changed?"

He chuckled again. "To be honest, everything I said, every reason I gave you, was a lie. Then again, you should know that. We never did talk about the real issues that lay between us. Namely, the things you wanted that I could never give you. A real family. Children…"

That was one of those things they never talked about, but when they were together, the thought of what she was giving up had always lingered in the back of her mind and she never liked to acknowledge it. When she was younger, she had looked forward to starting a family. Bonnie had always wanted to be a mother someday, but they would never be able to truly have their own children because he was a vampire. There was no spell to make that happen, but she thought she had been willing to make that compromise, to adopt or try some other means to have children, but if she was honest with herself, if she was still with him, them not being able to naturally have children would likely still be one of her biggest regrets regarding their relationship even though she believed she was okay with giving it up to be with him. But none of that mattered now because she'd given it up anyway to become a vampire.

Enzo continued on, "But it wasn't just what I couldn't give you. There were things I wanted that you couldn't give me and it took me a while to realize exactly what that was."

At that, Bonnie had no clue what he was talking about because he was the one who began to push her away first without saying why, and she had made her own assumptions about what made him distance himself from her. There were a few things at the time that he wasn't happy with, namely who she associated herself with outside of him though she was certain that couldn't have been the only reason. "And what was that exactly?"

He shook his head, not answering, which only irritated her.

"What is it that you aren't saying? You brought the subject up because you clearly want to get it off your chest so tell me, why did you really give up on us?"

"Why?" He looked over at Damon, and she followed his gaze to see him still leaning against the car watching them. How much of their conversation had he overheard? "You know why." Bonnie looked back at Enzo to find him already staring at her again. Bonnie frowned. "Or maybe you don't. Maybe you're still in denial." He scoffed. "I thought with time you would…"

"No. Never mind. It doesn't matter what I thought. It's clear to me that you've made your choice."

What was that supposed to mean? Bonnie's face twisted in irritation. She was done with this conversation, done with discussing their past. "Talking about this is pointless."

"Agreed. Here's the file. Do what you will with it." He handed her the manila envelope he'd been holding and turned towards Damon. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to speak with him for a moment."

Enzo made his way over to where Damon still stood leaning coolly against the driver's side of the car. Bonnie followed, walking over to the passenger's side, but not getting in just yet. She wanted to hear what Enzo would say to Damon.

"Done with your little jilted lover's reunion?" Damon said in greeting to Enzo.

"If she dies again, I'll hold you personally responsible, Salvatore."

Of course Enzo wanted to threaten him over her safety. Bonnie bristled at that. She could take care of herself just fine. She didn't need his or anyone else's protection. Damon's eyes flicked to her briefly. "Relax. I won't let that happen."

Enzo scoffed. "Yeah because you didn't almost kill her all those years ago." Bonnie guessed he was referring to when Damon had woken up from the phoenix stone.

"That was an accident."

"That wasn't his fault."

Damon and Bonnie had spoken at the same time, prompting them to stare at one another. She hadn't meant to defend him. The words had just fallen out of her mouth. He looked mildly surprised at her outburst and Enzo stared between the two of them with a rueful smirk on his face. "Yes, just like all the other times he's put your life in danger weren't his fault."

As Bonnie let her annoyance with Enzo outweigh her guarded resentment towards Damon, her mouth ran again before her brain could stop her. "You're one to talk about putting my life in danger, Enzo."

There was a lull in the conversation. Damon made no reaction to what Bonnie had said while Enzo stared at her, his expression falling into one of remorse before returning to one of feigned normalcy. Regret lanced through her at the sight of his reaction. That was harsh of her. He hated himself for the whole thing with the pills and Bonnie's comment had touched on a sore spot. "I'm done here. If you need anything else from The Armory, let me know. Otherwise, I'll see you around. Take care of her, mate."

Enzo went back to his car and opened the door. Bonnie did the same but paused as she watched Damon speed over to Enzo. "Hold on," she heard Damon say before they began to speak in hushed voices. Bonnie could hear nothing of what they were talking about. They spoke too lowly for her to hear until Enzo finally dismissed Damon. "…ask her yourself," was the tail end of his last statement which meant it was safe to say that the topic of conversation had likely been herself.

How much had Enzo said?

She slipped into the car as Damon returned and braced herself, certain she would soon find out.

* * *

 **A/N:** **So I should probably mention one of the minor changes I made a while ago to the first chapter for the few people who might not know. Maybe it was unconscious shadiness or something on my part, but I totally forgot Jeremy existed, so he's been mentioned now when Bonnie was trying to contact everyone after first discovering Elena was missing (She couldn't reach him, but Alaric is trying to track him down just so you know).**

 **As another side note, I will probably constantly be making minor changes because I will likely never be happy with what I've posted, but I'll only mention it if it may affect the plot.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **And special thanks to all who have left reviews, favorited, and followed this story!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

 _"I don't think I was ready to admit it to myself for a long time, and I don't think he was ready to admit it either."_

 _"And are you sure there isn't some other reason?"_

* * *

Damon was frustrated.

He heard most of their conversation, but Bonnie revealed next to nothing. The main thing Damon picked up on was that Bonnie didn't just die. In her own words, she said she was killed, and Enzo believed there was someone to blame for her death. Damon asked Enzo about it before he left, but he wouldn't give him a straight answer.

"Look, it's not my business to tell you what she's been up to, but I will say that she got involved with a lot of people, witches in particular, that she shouldn't have gotten involved with. I have some people in mind who might have something to do with this. But you should stick to worrying about finding your missing girlfriend. I'll worry about Bonnie."

"Oh come on, you can tell me more than that and you know it."

"If you want to know what happened to her, ask her yourself." was Enzo's response before the useless bastard pulled off. Damon's jaw twitched in annoyance as he walked back to the car and slipped back into the driver's seat alongside Bonnie who spared him a cursory glance before she busied herself with looking through the file Enzo gave her.

Earlier when Bonnie admitted that she and Enzo had been in a relationship, Damon couldn't imagine it. He was still struggling to wrap his mind around it. Her and Enzo made no sense to him. It was almost as absurd as Bonnie becoming a vampire.

She had to have been brainwashed. That was the only explanation he could think of because if she was in her right mind, Bonnie would never go for someone like him, and if Damon had been around, they wouldn't have happened. He wouldn't have let it. Enzo was a clingy self-serving prick who only looked out for his own interests, and in the past, he caused them a myriad of issues while he flip-flopped between their side and the enemy's. Damon would've talked some sense into her before she wasted her time on the likes of him, but at least she eventually came to her senses. Satisfaction curled in his stomach at the thought of their relationship ending. It was only natural that it fizzled out. Someone like Enzo would never be able to handle someone like Bonnie for long. And besides, she deserved better.

Watching them interact had been interesting enough though. Despite the way Enzo spoke to Bonnie on the phone, his reception towards her in person was icy and Bonnie was obviously reluctant to meet him in the first place. Damon was almost certain his presence was the reason behind Enzo's attitude. Even so, Damon had expected Bonnie to be more open with Enzo considering their history, but she was tight lipped about any details regarding her death even with him. It also didn't escape his notice that she hadn't told him she was a vampire-witch. He assumed that was because of the little tidbit she'd mentioned that implied Enzo had also put her life in danger. She may not trust him because of that. But while he was curious to know what exactly Enzo had done, Damon was certain that would be another touchy subject, and that wasn't what he really wanted to know.

Her secrecy regarding her death was what bothered Damon the most. It might be the guilt of not being there to protect her. Or it might be because the Bonnie Bennett he knew had drastically changed and he had no clue why. Either way, she was dangling a mystery in front of his face and he was caught. Not knowing nagged at him, and at this point half his thoughts centered on the enigmatic vampire-witch.

When they arrived on the university campus in Chicago, there were students everywhere. The sight brought back memories of Whitmore College, of his time with Elena there, and Damon reflexively pushed away the worry that threatened to overtake him at the thought of her. Instead, he focused on how the sight of so many hot-blooded youths reminded him that he was more than a little hungry even after the snack at the gas station four hours earlier. He licked his lips. Later, he would have to grab a bite to eat.

Beside him, Bonnie appeared more vigilant than normal again, almost as much as she had been when they'd gone to see Jay. Her eyes scanned the crowds while her thumb rubbed across the ring she wore on her right index finger again, and her mouth had taken on this permanent almost frown, the slightly downturned corners of her lips making her look as if she subtly disapproved of everyone around her. Populated public places seemed to make her wary, but the bit of attention they drew also probably didn't help.

Somehow, the two of them walking together stood out. While looking as young as they did, they could easily pass as college students, but unbeknownst to them, they gave off an air of mystery as two more than mildly attractive people dressed in all black, walking sure-footedly with purpose in silence. It was only natural they received glances here and there. Damon ignored them, but he could see the attention making Bonnie even more tightly wound.

"Did you ever finish?" Damon asked out of the blue, referring to college.

Bonnie looked at him and took a moment before she answered. "I did eventually."

"Let me guess. You ended up going with occult studies?"

"Business," she corrected.

"Ah, the more practical choice," Damon commented. "So you were planning to live out your days working some boring nine-to-five."

"Something wrong with that?"

"Not at all."

After a pause, she looked at him again. Her frown deepened. She sucked in the bottom of her lip slightly, chewing on it for a split second before she spoke. "Earlier, what did you and-" Before she could finish her sentence, someone ran into her.

Bonnie had been looking at Damon, so the impact was unexpected. Her shoulder was jostled a little, but the guy who collided with her stumbled back. In an instant, Bonnie was ready to pounce. Her body went taught, her face began to twist, and the air around her changed. Damon wasn't sure what she would do, but he was certain that if she attacked him in broad daylight in the middle of a college campus, it would lead to more unwanted attention and a mess that would be a pain to clean up.

Her fingers flexed at her sides. "Bonnie…" Damon said, his tone warning. Her head snapped towards him, and he raised his eyebrows in question at her behavior. That seemed to bring her back down to earth as she turned back to look at the person who'd run into her.

He had the appearance of your typical frat boy. Dark brown hair cropped short, blue eyes, obnoxious khaki pants. After he regained his balance, his eyes skimmed over Bonnie, clearly liking what he saw. "Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going. I'm Eddie by the way" He held out his hand in introduction, a friendly smile on his face.

Bonnie stared at his outstretched hand then him. She was still wary, but after a beat she reached out to shake it. "Nice to meet you."

"Are you new? I don't think I've seen you around before." A flirtatious tone seeped into his voice, and Damon scoffed.

"It's a big campus." Bonnie said.

"Well there's a party this weekend at our fraternity. You should come." He looked over at Damon. "And you can bring your friend too." The word "friend" came out like a question.

Before Bonnie could speak, Damon jumped in. "We're busy," he said curtly, a rude edge to his tone. They didn't have time for this.

Bonnie's fingers twitched, but she otherwise made no reaction. "Sorry," she apologized for Damon's attitude. "The Life Sciences Building is this way, right?" She asked him.

"Yeah, just follow this path past the next three buildings, then turn right. You'll see it."

Damon walked off while Bonnie thanked the kid. She caught up to him a moment later, and in silence they continued making their way to the Life Sciences Building where Dr. Ross' office was supposedly located.

Damon had looked at the file Enzo gave them briefly before they got out of the car. Dr. Jennifer Ross was a professor in the Human Genetics Department here at the university. Her primary research was studying patterns of genetic variation in people to figure out which genes cause people to be susceptible to specific diseases. However, her secondary research, according to The Armory, was that she was also attempting to find a cure to vampirism through somehow using magic to affect whatever happens at the molecular level. Damon could barely understand the terminology. It was all dribble drabble to him, but it was clear that she experimented extensively on vampires.

Once they found the Life Sciences Building and were inside, they took the stairs up to the fourth floor where they quickly found Dr. Ross' office at the end of the hall. Inside, Damon could hear the steady drum of a heartbeat.

"We play nice," Bonnie said to him right before knocking on the door.

"The only way I know how to play."

Bonnie shot him a look that was clearly an order to behave, and he let one corner of his lips turn up just as the words "come in" drifted through the door.

Bonnie turned the knob and walked in slowly with Damon behind her. Dr. Ross was sitting at her desk, head buried in a stack of papers she was marking with a red pen. There had been a picture attached to her Armory file, and she looked as Damon expected her to aside from her dusty blonde hair being piled on top of her head in a neat bun and the glasses framing her narrow face. Dr. Ross looked up as Bonnie and Damon approached, calculating brown eyes drifting between them. She pushed the glasses sitting on the edge of her nose back upwards with an index finger and sat straighter in her chair, placing her red pen on top of her desk. "These aren't my normal office hours, but how can I help you?"

"We just have a few questions," Bonnie started.

Dr. Ross was still scrutinizing them. "I'm sorry. This may sound rude, but who are you exactly? I've never seen either of you in the department nor do I recognize you from any of my classes."

Before they could answer, a whisper of a word passed through Dr. Ross' lips and a second later Damon was clutching his head in agony. Pain seared through him and he doubled over, grunting as he endured the bursting of blood vessels in his brain. It had been a while since he'd felt this, and he couldn't say he missed it.

Beside him, Bonnie stood unaffected.

"So you're a vampire, but what are you?" Dr. Ross looked at Bonnie.

"A witch."

The spell affecting Damon stopped and he gathered himself.

"An unusual combination, but not unheard of," she noted "What do a vampire and a witch want with me?" Her brown eyes narrowed.

"We're looking into the cure for vampirism," Damon said, hoping to cut to the chase.

That was the wrong thing to say because Dr. Ross abruptly thrust her hands out towards them while saying a short spell, and they were both slammed against the far wall and held there a few feet off the ground. He and Bonnie let out small grunts at the impact while Dr. Ross stood up from her chair and walked around her desk. "The Armory are the only people who knew about that research, and I told them that if they ever sent their people snooping around me again, I would kill them."

"You're mistaken. We're not with The Armory per se. We just have a few connections. Have you heard they're under new management?" Damon responded.

Dr. Ross frowned at that news. "New management? Who-"

Before she could finish her question, she was thrown rather roughly against the wall to the right by an invisible force, causing her head to slam into a bookcase. With her concentration broken, he and Bonnie were released from whatever spell Dr. Ross had cast.

As soon as his feet touched the ground, Damon looked over to Bonnie who must've done something, but she was already walking towards Dr. Ross who was clutching her head and trying to stand up. The moment she was on her feet, however, Bonnie thrust her hand out and pushed her back against the wall the same way she had done to them.

Not giving up, a distinctively Latin sounding word started to leave Dr. Ross' mouth, but before she could get to the third syllable, Bonnie flicked her palm backwards and Dr. Ross' head was slammed back against the wall again, cutting her off. " _Phantasmos suffocant,"_ Bonnie said, and Dr. Ross began to choke. "Calm down with the spells or I'll cut your tongue out next," she threatened coolly.

Damon stood a few feet behind Bonnie wrought with fascination. Self-assuredness poured through her every movement, a calm confidence that Damon had never seen in her before. The way she had doled out that threat and was allowing the witch to sit there and suffocate was one more thing out of sync with the Bonnie he knew. Certainly, after her experiences with Kai, Bonnie had changed, became harder and less willing to take shit from anyone, but this was decidedly different. She was too calm, too at home with what she was doing especially considering this was a witch she was doing it to.

"So much for playing nice," Damon quipped.

Bonnie ignored him and addressed Dr. Ross instead. "I would like to have a normal conversation like civilized people. Can we do that?"

Dr. Ross' face had begun to turn red. She was close to passing out from lack of oxygen. Still, she was able to nod her head in answer, and Bonnie finally released her from the spell. Dr. Ross fell to the floor coughing and gasping for breath, her reddened face slowly becoming normal again. She rubbed at the back of her head, checking for blood before grabbing her glasses off the floor beside her and putting them back on.

"Tell us what you know about the cure, and please don't test me again."

Dr. Ross shook her head, looking at Bonnie with open curiosity despite the fact that she almost killed her. Once she had gathered more breath, she began to speak. "Fine. I can tell when I'm outclassed by another witch. I'll tell you about my research. Just promise me you'll leave here peacefully," the words came out hoarsely as she pulled herself to her feet, still looking at Bonnie with interest.

Bonnie nodded.

Dr. Ross cleared her throat. "First, who did you say you were again?"

"Who we are doesn't matter. Just tell us about your research on the cure," Bonnie disregarded the question.

Dr. Ross' eyes moved between her and Damon. "Alright then. My research on the cure was ultimately unfinished."

"Go on." Damon said.

"It's a long story, and I'm sure you don't want me to prattle off about sequencing, what becoming a vampire magically does to the human genome, and why creating a spell to permanently reverse that is impossible. Even if I did give you detailed information about my research, it contains nothing that will help you find a working cure because it was inconclusive. I was missing something, something I couldn't determine with the resources I had. So I gave up, shelved it to return to in the future and started working on other things."

"Other things being?"

She sighed as if that should be obvious. "My actual research that does not involve magic. The reason why I work here."

"And we're just supposed to believe you?" Damon asked skeptically.

She folded her arms across her chest. "How exactly am I supposed to convince you?"

"We want a copy of the research."

She hesitated before answering, her eyes flicking over in the direction of her desk. "Fine." Dr. Ross turned her head fully towards her desk and nodded. "I keep all the physical copies in the bottom drawer of the file cabinet over there. You can have them."

Damon walked around her desk and opened the file cabinet drawer in question. Immediately, he saw a large file folder conveniently labeled "Cure" and grabbed it. The file was between two to three inches thick and quite heavy. "Those are all the notes on the research I've done over the past four years." She adjusted the frames on her face.

"And you did all of this alone? No one was assisting you?" Damon asked.

"That's correct."

"Hmm, alright."

"Before we leave, I have one more question," Bonnie said. "We're looking for a witch originally from this city. You're from here, right?"

Dr. Ross nodded. "Yes."

Bonnie described the dark haired, pale skinned witch from her vision of Tyler's death. "Any of that sound familiar?"

"I don't know any person of that description. Why are you looking for them?"

"I need to speak with her. She may know what happened to a friend of mine. Where's the nearest coven who might know of her?"

"Check a nearby restaurant called _Lianne's_ on 47th street. The owner is a coven leader," Dr. Ross began to move back towards her desk. "Are we done?"

Bonnie started to speak, but Damon stepped forward, interrupting her. "Wait. I have one last question," he eyed the professor. "Does the name, Elena, mean anything to you."

Dr. Ross tilted her head to the side. "Should it? Why would I know this person?"

Damon gauged her reaction, but there was no telling whether she was lying or not. "No reason," Damon decided not to push the subject further, not wanting to reveal Elena's connection to the cure if Dr. Ross didn't already know. He looked at Bonnie. "We're done here then," he said.

The thought to kill Dr. Ross crossed his mind. His eyes met Bonnie's. She seemed to know what he was thinking and shook her head. Damon took note. So she would bring a fellow witch to the edge of death, but killing them was still crossing a line for her. Good to know. Still, Damon thought leaving her alive might be a bad idea, and it occurred to him to kill Dr. Ross anyway. Then he remembered he was still trying to get back on Bonnie's good side, so they would do this her way for now.

"We were never here," Bonnie said as the two of them left and as soon as they were out the door, they sped away.

* * *

An hour later, Damon met up with Bonnie in a coffee shop where he left her to begin perusing through the file that Dr. Ross had so graciously given them. Damon had just returned from purchasing a new cell phone to replace the obsolete one he'd woken up with which no longer worked. In the meantime, Bonnie had hunkered down in a secluded corner of the coffee shop where he found her in the same position he left her in.

Damon sat down in the chair across from her, fiddling with his new phone. He went through his contacts transferred from the old phone, found Bonnie's name and pressed the dial button. He heard Bonnie's phone vibrate, and she reached into the pocket of her leather jacket to pull it out. She stared at the screen for a moment then looked at Damon. "Why are you calling me?"

He cancelled the call. "Making sure you have the same number."

She put her phone away. "Everyone does."

Damon followed suit, but he could feel that Bonnie's gaze had returned to him. "By the way, I checked for Elena's location while you were gone."

He tensed up at that. "And?"

"And nothing's changed. I still can't find her, but she's still alive. Thought you should know."

That was not what he wanted to hear. "It would be nice if you could actually get a location."

"Yeah well it's never that easy."

Though Damon wished he was receiving better news, the knowledge that his girlfriend was still alive renewed his sense of hope. They would find her eventually. They had to. Elena would just have to hold on until they could get to her. "How's the research going?"

She leaned back in her chair. "So far I don't see anything that indicates a relationship between the cure and Elena. She talks about the cure only as a methodology. The earlier parts are all about the magic-induced molecular transformations in the body that occur due to vampirism and it uses terms that are far beyond my Biology 101 education, so it's hard to understand the science behind everything. What is clear is that her goal was to devise a reversal spell that somehow incorporated the science behind the transformation."

"Let me take a look." Bonnie passed him some of what she'd been reading. He skimmed over the pages, but he had just as much knowledge as Bonnie with regard to all the terminology. Damon paused, "For all we know, she was lying, and this isn't all of her research."

"I'm aware of that and I've been toying with the idea of going back and snooping while she's not there."

"After we check the coven," Damon suggested.

"Right," Bonnie appeared less than enthused to do that.

She inhaled a sigh, but something made her pause. "Did you just eat?"

"I may have had a meal on the way back," he said. Damon hadn't slept since he woke up from desiccation and being up for almost twenty hours while driving for twelve of them was taking its toll on him. To compensate for the lack of sleep, he'd had another bite to eat to regain some of his energy.

Bonnie appeared to disapprove, confirming his suspicions that she was on a blood bag only diet. When he discovered the cooler full of blood bags in her trunk earlier, he'd been somewhat surprised to find that she was drinking human blood at all. With her opposition to vampires drinking blood as a human, he would have fully expected her to go the animal blood route like his brother, but it appeared that even she couldn't resist the real thing. "Should I have brought you someone?"

"I'm fine." She went back to looking at the research.

He leaned forward in his seat and nodded to the right. "You sure? There's a tasty looking college student sitting two tables over."

Her gaze found said college student then returned to him. "Yes, I'm sure. You can stop pretending."

"Pretending what?"

"To care whether I'm hungry or not. You obviously want to see whether or not you can tempt me into drinking blood from some random person."

"That is not what I'm doing." Okay. He might've been doing that a little.

"Sure," she said sarcastically.

"Sue me for trying to be nice then."

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "You and I both know you can't be nice to someone without some ulterior motive."

"That isn't true."

"Yeah sure."

Damon was determined to win this argument. "Remember way back when I saved your life from a deranged sociopathic maniac who escaped from a 1994 prison world?"

"You only did that because Elena would hate you forever if you let one of her best friends die in vain in order to save her."

Damon blinked. "Hold on. That's not why I did it. I admit, I may have thought that after the fact, but in the moment, I wasn't actively thinking that. The only thing going through my head was that my best friend was dying, and I didn't want to lose you," Damon paused. "Maybe when Kai was trying to make it seem like a choice between you or Elena, I figured out that I would only have to wait for Elena to wake up, that you dying was unnecessary, but that wasn't what fueled my actions."

She snorted derisively. "So somewhere in the back of your mind you still rationalized saving me around your ability to be with Elena."

"Are you even listening to me?"

"I heard you loud and clear. Instinctually, your world revolves around her. In the hierarchy of Damon Salvatore's life, Elena is first. And you can't tell me that if it really was a choice between me or Elena, that if I had to die right then and there for her to live and vice versa, you would choose me."

That wasn't a fair question and she knew it. "I don't know what I would do."

"You know exactly what you would do."

Damon was exasperated with her. "No, I don't. Despite whatever you think, you mean something to me. Losing either one of you would tear me apart."

"Well congratulations. You lost me anyway."

They stared at one another, Bonnie daring him to push the subject, and Damon refusing to back down from her gaze. "Do you remember what I said to you that one night after watching The Bodyguard two weeks before Kai showed up?"

The hardness of her gaze faltered. "I remember."

 _Damon was comfortably slouched on one side of the couch with one arm spread across the back behind him. Bonnie was sprawled out over the rest of the couch, blanket wrapped around her while her head rested against the arm of the couch and her legs rested in his lap. They were watching The Bodyguard again, a favorite pastime of Bonnie's, but her eyes held a faraway look, and her expression was not a happy one._

 _"Are you even watching?"_

 _She looked at him._ _"Yeah. I was just thinking."_

 _"About?"_

 _She hesitated, pulling the blanket up further onto her shoulders and stretching her legs out over his. "Getting out of here."_

 _Damon had accepted that this was his hell a long time ago and had given up hope on returning. Bonnie, however, held onto the belief that they would eventually escape. Over time, that belief waned, but the shred of hope she kept alive sometimes manifested into their what-if-we-escape conversations. Damon was an active participant in those conversations earlier on, but with the acceptance of his fate, Damon came to hate the subject and would often dismiss whatever Bonnie said. Yet he still listened to her because if he was honest with himself, he wanted to hope they would get back. It was just easier for him to let himself believe it would never happen._

 _When he made none of his usual objections, she continued. "I was thinking maybe I won't go back to school right away. Maybe I'll take a year off, travel around the world…" she trailed off. Being around Bonnie for so long attuned him to her moods, and Damon could almost see the somber cloud descend over her. She shook her head. "But I was also thinking who am I kidding, even if we do get out of here, with my track record, I'll probably end up dead again for good so what's the point of making plans."_

 _Damon put down the glass of bourbon he was nursing and paused the movie. "If by some miracle we do get out of here, you're not dying again."_

 _"You don't know that."_

 _"You're not dying, Bon-bon." His voice held conviction and the implication that he would do everything in his power to prevent her death from happening anytime soon. "Even if I have to become your Frank Farmer," Damon said without thinking._

 _"My Frank?" Bonnie raised her eyebrows at that._

 _"To a lesser extent," he corrected after realizing how extreme that might be._

 _Her lips curled up into a small smile. "Right."_

"And look at me now," Bonnie said presently, the hardness in her gaze returning just as quickly as it left. "You obviously didn't give two shits about me."

"You don't understand-"

"I understand just fine." Her tone indicated she was done listening.

Damon wondered how their discussion had veered onto their messed-up relationship, a topic which Bonnie had so far been steadfast in avoiding especially when it came to him trying to explain his desiccation. Damon was growing tired of the way she shut him down every time he tried to justify his behavior to her. He didn't usually do serious. He wasn't the explanation-giving type, and yet he'd tried to do so numerous times to get her to understand him. Bonnie didn't want to hear it, and he was almost ready to give up and let her be unreasonably stubborn and angry.

Looking at the Bonnie sitting in front of him, Damon half longed for the 1994 days. He almost wished he could time travel back there if only to have that Bonnie back instead of the obstinate unforgiving one in front of him who won't even let him say his piece. Back then, he thought he was living in his personal hell, but it could've been worse. He could've been there alone. Having Bonnie there beside him made everything better even with their nastier arguments. Who knew that he'd be looking back on those memories fondly now. That he'd be wishing he and Bonnie could be sent back there so she'd have no choice but to listen to him or suffer in loneliness.

He wasn't sure how long they'd been staring at one another when Bonnie finally looked away again first. "Help me go through the rest of this." She went back to the research, divided it, and handed him a stack.

For the next two hours they went through Dr. Ross' research, and it got them nowhere. After skimming most of her work, what Dr. Ross said she'd done pretty much checked out. He and Bonnie discovered that she'd successfully developed a spell that would reverse vampirism for seconds before the cells regenerated, returning to their vampiric status, but she was unable to make it last for more than a few seconds. Again and again it appeared that she tried to revise her methods, but nothing worked. Some of her final notes were mentioning the need to investigate the actual vampire creation spell. After discovering that, Damon sat back in his seat. Going through this wasn't really getting them anywhere.

"Alaric should take a look at this," Damon said. "See if he can figure anything out."

"I doubt he'll be any more helpful. His specialty is history, remember, not science."

"Still won't hurt to have him look at this."

Bonnie shrugged.

"I'll call him." Damon pulled out his phone and dialed Alaric's number. He picked up on the fourth ring.

"Damon?" He was probably the last person Alaric expected to call.

"The one and only. How are you, Ric?"

"How are you awake? Who-," Damon could hear the light-bulb go off in his head, "Is Bonnie with you?"

"Sitting right across from me."

He sighed. "Put her on."

Damon handed his phone to Bonnie and she put it to her ear. "Hello Alaric."

"I'm sorry you had to wake him."

Damon frowned at that. "So am I," she said, "but we have more pressing matters at hand. We found the witch from the Armory file and managed to get her to hand over what research she's done on the cure. We need you to look through it, see if you can find anything we might've missed."

"Fine. I can do that much."

"Have you been able to track down Jeremy?"

"I'm having some trouble on that front. Can't seem to reach him by any of the usual means. It's like he's disappeared too, and that has me worried since he'd taken up hunting full-time."

"Jeremy's still hunting vampires?"

"I haven't spoken to him in a while, but yeah he's been hunting since he went off to art school. And by that I mean he never actually went to art school and has been hunting vampires all this time."

"Great. So he's possibly in trouble too."

"Or he's just not answering. That seems to be a trend these days. But I'll let you know if I hear anything in the future."

"Alright. Send your address so I can send you the research."

"Will do."

They hung up and Bonnie passed Damon's phone back to him.

"So the coven."

"I was thinking I should do that alone."

"Alone?" Not that he didn't trust Bonnie to handle it, but he would rather go with her.

"In my experience, most covens are less than welcoming to vampires especially around this area where tensions might be a bit higher because of all the disappearances," Bonnie explained.

"Did you forget that you're a vampire too."

"Yes, but they won't recognize me as one, at least not as quickly as they'd recognize you. You saw what happened in Dr. Ross' office. Vampire detection spells generally don't work on me."

"Yeah, but you could be walking into a trap. Dr. Ross could've warned them that we'd be coming."

"I get that, but I still think I should do this alone. And while I'm doing that, you can mail all this stuff to Alaric."

"So I've been demoted to the mailman now," Damon complained.

"It's called maximizing our time."

"Fine," Damon started gathering up the papers. "I'll meet you outside the restaurant in twenty minutes. If you're not out by then, I'm coming in."

They went their separate ways, Bonnie going straight to the restaurant while Damon went to find the closest post office which was only a few blocks away. Mailing the research didn't take long, and about fifteen minutes later, Damon arrived outside the restaurant. _Lianne's,_ the restaurant, in question was also only a couple of blocks away from where they were and even closer to the post office. It was a small quaint place situated on a corner with large glass windows. Damon peered inside and spotted Bonnie sitting in a booth with an older woman. As if she could sense his gaze, Bonnie turned towards him, then turned back towards the woman and said something. Then she was standing up and heading towards the door.

She walked up to him, the wind whipping her ponytail through the air.

"Any luck?"

Bonnie shook her head. "No. I talked to the coven leader and she claimed to not know anything about the witch who killed Tyler. I did get her to tell me where I could find a few other covens though. According to her, there's about seven others in the city that she knows of, but they all tend to keep to themselves."

Damon blew out a breath, "I'm starting to think that looking for this witch is a wild goose chase."

"I'm starting to feel the same way."

They headed back in the direction of the car, turning onto a relatively quiet street. Damon was tired, wanted to rest, but if they could cross another one of the covens off their list, it was worth it. After that, they would return to Dr. Ross' office when she wasn't there and take a look around. That professor was hiding something. She had to be.

That was the last thought Damon had before he felt something prick the back of his neck, and his vision faded to black.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you for reading wonderful people! Had some trouble with how I was going to deal with the whole sciencey magic thing and I know I just ended up being vague, but hopefully that's okay. I also wasn't sure whether or not to include the small flashback, but I thought it might be a nice to keep seeing a less-angry Bonnie. Sorry for any mistakes and thank you again!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

 _"Another reason? Like what?"_

 _"Like you know who. He who must not be named."_

* * *

Bonnie awoke with tears rolling down her cheeks and a thick tightness in her chest. Her breath came fast, and the urge to cry out bubbled up inside of her. As her mouth opened to do so, she tempered the urge and focused on slowing her breathing. Awareness that she'd just had another nightmare set in, and for the first time in a while, she struggled to suppress a different set of emotions as she tried not to acknowledge the images that haunted her dreams.

At the sound of her name, she turned into Damon's pale blue eyes. She fixated on them, on the concern she saw behind them, but it was too much to look at those too, so she closed her eyes to darkness and slowed her breathing until the lingering fear unwrapped itself from around her heart. With a deep inhale and exhale, the thick tightness in her chest loosened just enough, and she was able to calm down.

Bonnie was still facing him when she opened her eyes again, and she could see the question written across his face. She answered it before he could ask. "I'm fine," she said, though she was far from it.

When she turned away from Damon, her vision was met with an unfamiliar white ceiling, and looking down at herself, she saw that she was strapped to a stretcher with four black leather straps running across their wrists and ankles. Her clothes were gone, replaced with a hospital gown, and connected to her arm was an IV drip pumping a clear fluid into her veins. The same was true for Damon beside her.

The stretchers were in the middle of a room full of white tile. On one side of the room were metal shelves stacked with an assortment of bottles and a refrigerated section that contained more bottles, tubes and petri dishes. On the opposite side of the room, there was grey countertop with black cabinets above and below it. The grey countertop held a stainless-steel sink and a couple of microscopes. One of which was pulled out. Bonnie could see two tubes of blood, hers and Damon's probably, sitting beside it, and against the wall next to the end of the grey counter was an assortment of what looked like medical equipment.

The need to escape was rising within her, but when Bonnie tested the restraints of the straps, she was barely able to lift her arms. She felt off kilter, light and heavy at the same time. Her limbs had become heavy weights, and her senses were duller than usual. Faintly, she could feel magic binding her alongside the restraints, and she was certain whatever liquid they were receiving intravenously was inhibiting her strength.

Bonnie balled her hands into fists and pushed against her restraints again, but then stilled, wiggling her fingers back and forth. She lifted her head to look down at them, feeling the absence of her rings for the first time. Then she looked down at her neck, noticing the necklace she wore was also not there. Unable to keep her head up, she let it fall back to the table with a soft thump. Shit. They needed to get out of here as soon as possible.

"What happened?" Bonnie asked. The last thing she remembered was Damon falling over in front of her, and before she could even process what was happening, everything had gone black.

"I'd say we were captured," Damon answered as if that should be obvious.

"By who?" Bonnie hadn't meant to sound annoyed, but she was mad with herself for letting this happen. She should know better than to let her guard down. This was unacceptable.

"I don't know yet but judging by the fact that it seems were in some sort of lab, I'm willing to bet their name starts with an "R" and rhymes with moss."

The professor was certainly a possible culprit. Based on her research, she could be adept at catching vampires, or she could have someone working with her who was capable of hunting vampires. Regardless, they would likely find out who it was soon.

"How long have you been awake?"

"Not long," he turned towards her again, and the concern was back in his eyes along with a bit of curiosity. "Did you know that you talk in your sleep?" There was some implication in his tone that her sleep-talking had been what woke him and with the way he was looking at her, she was sure she'd probably said too much.

Bonnie internally cursed herself. "Can you move?"

"Barely. You?"

"Same."

"Any way you can use some of your witchy mojo to free us?"

Bonnie turned her focus inward. Her magic felt off, small. As a vampire-witch, she primarily drew from the magic of her vampirism, so it made sense that if she felt weak, her magic would be weaker than usual, but it was also lighter. It was as if a weight had been lifted and it would be easy to pull what little magic she had forth if she so chose. She opened her eyes and turned back towards Damon. "I'm not sure, but I might-"

The sound of a door and footsteps descending a staircase interrupted her. Bonnie looked towards the door across the room, listening as the footsteps came closer and watching as the doorknob turned. As Damon suspected, Dr. Ross walked through. She paused after seeing both their eyes on her. "I see you're both finally awake." She let the door close behind her.

Aside from different clothes, Dr. Ross looked the same as she did when they last saw her. She strolled over to them, checking both of their drips before she stood in the space between the tables beside where their heads lay. Her attention was on Bonnie who she stared at with an intrigued look. It seemed their captor had figured out she wasn't just a normal witch.

A good thirty seconds passed before Dr. Ross spoke. "Bonnie Bennett is what the license on you said, and it didn't take long for me to find out that your family name is one of a long line of powerful witches, but you're not just a witch, are you?" She asked.

Bonnie remained silent, and Dr. Ross continued. "Back in my office, you claimed you were one, and you could certainly cast spells, but the moment I touched you, I felt death, the same death I felt from him." She motioned towards Damon with one of her hands. "There is no possible way, that I know at least, for you to have been turned between the time you left my office and the time I captured you. You would've still been 'dead', so to speak. So, what are you exactly?"

Bonnie defiantly continued to remain silent.

Dr. Ross raised her eyebrows a fraction of an inch. "Refusing to answer me won't serve you any good. I've done some tests on your blood and taken skin samples, so I already suspect…no, I know you're a vampire in part, but your blood is quite strange. I can tell you are still part witch, but the elements that indicate your witch abilities are like nothing I've ever seen. Further testing needs to be done with that, but what I really want to know is exactly how it's possible for a vampire to be a witch at the same time."

Bonnie shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. Magic?" She offered, unable to stop herself from being sarcastic.

Damon snorted.

Dr. Ross ignored her sarcasm. "It's obvious that magic is involved, but what sort of spell might make this possible? A vampire with the abilities of a witch is a powerful combination, so a powerful spell must be behind it. The basis of such a spell is probably blood, but the conditions necessary are a mystery to me. Does it possibly have something to do with what's on your back?"

So she had seen that. "No, it doesn't."

"Then what?"

Bonnie was silent again.

Dr. Ross tapped her chin in thought and sighed, and her eyes flicked across the room. "It's clear you're not going to say anything without incentive, so maybe I should give you some."

She walked over to a drawer, reached in, and pulled out a 3cc syringe filled with a cloudy white liquid. Moving back to stand beside Bonnie, she showed her the syringe. "This is something of my own creation, a bit of a side project I worked on in the past. It contains vervain along with a few other things to heighten its effect, making it about twenty times more painful. I've used it before on a few vampires I've caught, and after 1cc you'll feel like you're dying the most painful death you've ever felt."

Bonnie could take pain. She had experienced it more than enough as the anchor to the other side. This couldn't be worse than that. Besides, she had been taking vervain since not long after she'd turned in order to increase her immunity to it. Whatever effect Dr. Ross' concoction might have on her shouldn't be as strong as she expected it to be if vervain was involved.

The syringe glistened, reflecting off the light. Dr. Ross took the top of the needle. "Shall we test it out? I'll give you half the normal dosage to start and we'll increase it from there." She stuck the needle in the skin of Bonnie's shoulder, and Bonnie watched as she pushed half a cc into her.

The pain was gradual, a burning sensation that spread from the injection site to the rest of her body and then she was on fire. Bonnie was determined to be silent, but she felt as if she was burning from the inside out. Her eyes closed, her teeth clenched together, and her breathing grew heavier as the pain increased tenfold. It was as if her insides were melting, liquifying and her healing abilities were struggling to keep up. Writhing on the stretcher, she pushed against her restraints, but she could only lay there and suffer until it was over.

Sweat dripped form her forehead as the pain level gradually went down. It completely subsided after about two minutes, but to Bonnie it had felt like an hour. It had taken everything in her not to cry out in pain or whimper at the height of it.

When she finally opened her eyes, Dr. Ross was looking at her expectantly.

Bonnie had it in her to be stubborn, and Damon must have seen it on her face. "Just tell her," he said.

As much as she would've liked to not give in to an enemy. It had been worse than normal vervain, and even though Bonnie thought she could take the normal dosage, there was no point in forcing herself to endure something like that again. She would tell Dr. Ross, and now that she'd inflicted pain on her, the professor would be more likely to believe whatever she told her anyway.

"Fine, ask me whatever you want."

"How is your condition possible?"

Bonnie took a moment to consider how to answer her. "The Gemini coven. Have you heard of them?" Dr. Ross shook her head. "They're a secretive coven originating around Portland, Oregon."

"What do they have to do with your condition?"

"This coven often has witches born without their own magic, but the ability to use magic siphoned from other witches. They're called siphoners, and a long time ago, one of these siphoners became a vampire by accident and discovered that they can use their magic despite being turned. And so vampire-witches came to exist."

"There are others?" Dr. Ross interrupted.

"There were others. Due to unfortunate circumstances there's only one left besides me now, but I have no contact with her, so she could be dead for all I know."

Dr. Ross tilted her head in thought, her finger coming to tap her chin again. "So you're a part of this Gemini coven?"

Bonnie answered her question carefully. "I'm not. Anyone born into the Gemini coven as a siphoner is considered an abomination of nature and rejected-."

A phone went off, interrupting them. Dr. Ross pulled it from the pocket of her pants and looked at who was calling. Frowning, she rejected it. "Continue," Dr. Ross said, but her phone began to ring again, and she glanced at Bonnie with a frustrated look before she turned around to take the call.

Bonnie listened in.

"Dr. Ross," a man said in an angry tone. She headed towards the door. "There was a mandatory staff meeting this morning and you were nowhere to be found, and now I hear that you suddenly cancelled your morning classes? You know we can't have a repeat of this behavior from you…" She was already out of the room, headed up the steps, and out of earshot before Bonnie could hear her response.

When the door shut, Bonnie's attention diverted back to escape. There was no time to waste.

She concentrated on the restraints and could feel the magic imbued in them to hold her in place. Pulling at that magic, it flowed into her palms, and even with whatever was weakening her, she could feel a small fraction of her own power combined with what she'd just absorbed. It was more than enough to release herself from the restraints. Bonnie mumbled a short spell, and they undid themselves. With her hands freed, she immediately ripped the IV out of her arm.

Almost instantly she felt a little bit better. It was a struggle, but Bonnie forced herself to sit up. She swung her legs over the table and pushed off a little too fast, stumbling over to Damon's stretcher, knocking into the IV as she did.

"Could you be a little louder?"

Bonnie pulled herself to her feet, shooting a glare at him. "I will leave you here." She threatened, but she was already working on releasing him. His, unlike hers, weren't spelled. Once one hand was undone, he was able to undo the other and pull out his own IV. "What is that?" Damon wondered aloud.

"I don't know, and I don't want to stay and find out either."

Damon got off the table and, like Bonnie, he stumbled a little. The fluids had drained their strength, but if they managed to catch Dr. Ross off guard whenever she came back, they would be able to have the upper hand.

"She's coming." They could both hear the footsteps at the top of the staircase behind the door on the far side of the room. Bonnie looked at the space behind the door, then at Damon. He understood her plan immediately.

They both clumsily moved over to the wall, whatever they'd been given still affecting them. "Stay close to me," She waited a second, and once Dr. Ross was just outside the door, Bonnie cast the spell. _Invisiquae,_ she whispered, and they became invisible.

Their captor came through the door and paused when she saw the empty stretchers. "How," she stepped forward closing the door, looking around, her eyes passing over the space where they stood. She took another step, and when she was far enough into the room with her back turned, Damon crept up behind her and went straight for the jugular, tearing into her neck with his fangs. Taken aback, Dr. Ross screamed while Damon tore into her, sloppily feeding on her blood.

The smell of blood hit Bonnie's nose and an intense hunger pang hit her stomach. Her fangs came out and she could feel the blood run through the veins underneath her eyes, but instead of going towards Dr. Ross, she took a step back in shock, the invisibility spell falling with her loss of concentration. The desire to feed was more intense than Bonnie had felt in a long while, and she braced a hand against the wall, folding over as she tried to pull herself together.

At the same time, Dr. Ross managed to get out a spell, and Damon fell to the floor, clutching his head. The professor held one hand to her neck, trying to stop the blood from pouring out of her wound while she gave Damon multiple aneurysms. "Bonnie!" Damon bit out through the pain.

Bonnie was still braced against the wall, but once she saw Damon on the floor, she dug deep and flung her hand out, knocking Dr. Ross back across the room and into the shelves. Freed form the aneurysms and rejuvenated from having a taste of blood, Damon sped over to Dr. Ross before she could get back on her feet. He got behind her and was about to snap her neck when Bonnie yelled for him to wait. Damon paused, holding Dr. Ross. His hands moved from her neck to restrain her arms and she winced in pain. "Where are the things you confiscated?" Bonnie came to stand in front of the professor. "My rings, my necklace. Where are they?"

Dr. Ross stared at Bonnie, but she looked half gone. She had lost a lot of blood after Damon bit into one of her arteries. Yet she managed to let out a chuckle. "As a precaution, I destroy all the belongings of test subjects. I was curious about your things, could tell your jewelry was spelled, but I have no interest in spelled trinkets and figured you might need them if you tried to escape."

Bonnie had been afraid of that. She had suspected as much when she first realized they were gone, especially because Dr. Ross would be able to tell that her things were spelled but would have no idea what they did. She was right to think Bonnie needed them, but their purpose had no bearing on whether or not Bonnie would be able to escape. Even so, not having them was going to cause her a lot of problems. Dr. Ross had no idea the trouble she'd made for her, and rage seeped through Bonnie at the thought. If the professor's death wasn't a guarantee before, it was certainly one now.

Damon had wanted to kill her back in her office and he was right. If she had let him, they wouldn't be here. But once again Bonnie's penchant for being the good witch, and not wanting to kill people unnecessarily had gotten her in trouble. It was frustrating, but she hadn't thought Dr. Ross would be a threat at the time. She had underestimated her, and now she would be paying the price. Bonnie was not about to make the same mistake again.

Gently, Bonnie leaned down and grabbed her cheeks with both hands, making Dr. Ross look at her. "I don't want to die." Her voice was weak. Blood still leaked out from her neck, and she could barely stand while Damon restrained her.

Bonnie stared at her coldly. She should suffer the same way she made Bonnie suffer, and if Bonnie was still a huntress there would be no doubt that she would, but lately she'd been trying to let go of her darker tendencies. So instead, she would just kill her outright. "You brought this upon yourself," was all Bonnie said before she snapped her neck, and her body went limp. Damon let her fall to the floor.

Bonnie stared at Dr. Ross, her eyes immediately going to the still warm blood around her neck. Temporarily, she had forgotten about how hungry she was, but the void in her stomach refused go unnoticed for long. She blinked and dragged her eyes away to find Damon's, but it was a mistake to look at him. The intensity with which he stared at her made her empty stomach curl uncomfortably.

"We should look around, see if we can find any of our things or anything of interest before we leave," Damon said. He was right. They needed to get out of here as soon as possible.

Bonnie tried to take a step, but she stumbled a bit, still suffering from the effects of whatever they'd been given. Damon was at her side in an instant. His hand gripped her arm to steady her, and his touch seared her skin as she involuntarily leaned into him. Her gaze snapped up to his, and her eyes drifted to the blood still drying around his mouth from when he bit Dr. Ross. She intended to push away from him, but for a moment, the corner of his mouth was the only thing in her vision. Her tongue darted out to lick her lips, and her fangs itched, but whatever thought she had was interrupted by the sudden hyperawareness of the fact that neither of them had on any clothes underneath the thin hospital gowns they wore. Placing a palm on his chest to support herself, she moved away from him and stood up straighter. "I'm fine." Her gaze returned to his eyes.

Damon looked as if he didn't quite believe her. "Are you?"

Bonnie walked away steadier and he stepped back, his eyes still on her for a moment before he continued to look around.

There wasn't much to look through though. Bonnie pulled open a couple of drawers, finding nothing but an assortment of needles ranging in size, medical grade gloves and other supplies of the like, but she was finding it difficult to concentrate. "I need some fresh air," she started for the door, leaving Damon behind as she headed up the staircase, the smell of blood fading with every step she took.

What was upstairs was not what she expected. They were inside of a house, a normal house, and where she had just come from was the basement. The door to the basement had opened up into a hallway from which she could see the kitchen and the living room contained in a large open space. In the hallway where she stood, there were pictures hanging on the wall of Dr. Ross and her family, a picture of her and her parents, and her and another girl that could've been her sister. Bonnie walked down the hallway towards the living room until she reached the window, which she promptly opened.

It was still light outside. A clock on the wall read just after 3pm. They had lost a day, at least, time wasted that they could never get back.

Bonnie went to the kitchen and rummaged around for bit until she found what she was looking for. It didn't take her long to find a cabinet full of alcohol, but there wasn't anything inside that was as strong as she wanted. The brandy would have to do. She found the glasses, took one out and then poured herself a glass. She downed the whole thing, then poured herself another with the full intention of chugging that down too until she was interrupted.

"I found something that might work a bit better." Damon was leaning against the wall behind her. He held up a blood bag, then tossed it to her, and she caught it. Not wanting to show just how much the hunger was affecting her, Bonnie forced herself to open it slowly and drink, but when the blood hit her tongue, she was unable to stop herself from tilting her head back a little too fast and letting out a soft barely audible moan as she squeezed the contents of the bag into her mouth. She had been drinking the alcohol to curb the edge to her hunger, but actual blood was a far better solution.

"I didn't find anything of ours or anything worth noting in the basement, but I'm going to check the rest of the house. Shout if you need me." He disappeared into the hallway.

As soon as she was done sucking the last drop of blood out of the bag, she went to the foyer and found the staircase leading upstairs. On the second floor, there were three bedrooms, two of which didn't seem to be in use. Luckily, the last room she checked was the master bedroom and clearly used by Dr. Ross. Bonnie went for the closet and began to search through her clothes, but Dr. Ross was more petite than Bonnie and her clothes were two sizes too small. Pants were out of the question, and Dr. Ross didn't have many skirts or dresses so her options were limited. However, Bonnie found a loose yellow dress with a large blue floral print in the back that looked like it would fit. She slipped off the hospital gown and into the dress, happy to find that her judgement was correct.

There was a full-length mirror on the wall beside the closet, and Bonnie stepped in front of it, looking at herself. She fingered the ruffles at the bottom of the dress. It was not her style and she felt odd in it, but admittedly, it did look good. Thankfully, she and Dr. Ross did wear the same shoe size, so Bonnie grabbed a pair of flats and threw them on. Afterwards, she went to the bathroom and did what she could to fix her hair. She grabbed a hair tie, putting it up in a ponytail, and once she was presentable, she left the bathroom.

Bonnie heard Damon call her name. "Come here," he said.

She turned to follow the sound of his voice. "Where are you?"

"In her study."

Bonnie rounded a corner and saw an open doorway. She pushed the door open further as she walked in to find Damon sitting at a desk in what looked like a home office. He was fiddling around with a computer. "She must've been using it before she came back downstairs because it was already unlocked."

Damon looked up at her and paused on her ensemble.

"What?"

She didn't like the smirk that slowly spread across his face. "Nothing."

"Why are you looking at me like that?" He had the nerve to be making her self-conscious. She frowned at him.

"No reason. It's just the cute and innocent look doesn't quite suit you anymore."

He went back to looking through the computer and Bonnie tried to brush off his comment. She turned her focus to the room, her eyes wandering to the man books along the walls related to biology, genetics and genealogy. Her eyes wandered until they settled on a file cabinet not unlike the one in her office at the university. Bonnie walked over and opened it, perusing through the folder titles while Damon continued to search through her computer. The top drawer seemed related to her actual work, so Bonnie moved on to the second one.

"There are files on this computer for every vampire she's ever experimented on and it's looking like all of them are dead."

"How long has she been doing this?"

"The oldest file on here goes back seven years."

Bonnie moved onto the third drawer in the file cabinet. Immediately, she noticed that this was a drawer full of files related to researching the cure, but in the back, she saw a word that caught her eye. _Augustine._ She looked back at Damon before she pulled out the folder and opened it. From what she could understand, it was a record from 2012 regarding the results of a failed experiment focused on creating the cure by purely medical means. Bonnie had thought the Augustine Society was only interested in making a new kind of vampire that would only feed on vampires, but apparently she was wrong.

Damon had told her about what they did to him and Enzo in 1994.

 _She was sitting on the island in the middle of the kitchen eating an apple while Damon was drinking the usual cup of blood he drank when he was hungry in the middle of the day. Bonnie had come into the kitchen for a snack to find him with a blood bag in hand, and not wanting to be alone, she had decided to join him._

 _They greeted one another, exchanging a bit of light banter, and she watched as he poured the thick dark red liquid into a mug, then toss the blood bag into the trash. He leaned against the counter beside Bonnie just inside of her personal space as always and brought the rim of the glass to his mouth, taking a large drink. His adam's apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed._

 _"What does it taste like to you?" She had never asked Elena or Caroline before because she had never thought to, and while they would openly drink blood around Bonnie, they rarely talked about drinking blood around her._

 _"Blood?" He brought the glass down from his face and followed the direction of her gaze._

 _"I mean in comparison to other foods."_

 _He leaned against the island beside her, a thoughtful look coming to his face. "The taste is hard to describe, but human food is bland in comparison."_

 _"Does it have flavor?"_

 _The way he stared at her indicated that he was obviously wondering why she was asking him these questions, but he answered them anyway. "Different people taste different. Depending on the person's blood type and diet, the flavor can change a little bit, but no matter the type, when even only one drop of it hits your tongue, it is immensely satisfying, to the point where whenever you're without it, you aren't satisfied until you're able to get more."_

 _"You never get full?"_

 _"I can drink enough to know that I don't need anymore, but that doesn't mean the desire for more has completely dissipated."_

 _He took another sip, and Bonnie bit into her apple while staring at him. Her eyes followed the pale line of his neck._

 _"What about vampire blood?"_

 _"What about vampire blood?" Damon echoed her question._

 _"What does it taste like to a vampire?"_

 _He tilted his head to the side. "You're awfully curious about vampires today."_

 _"Are you going to answer my question?"_

 _Damon raised his eyebrows. "If you must know, it's a little bitter, and just not as good as human blood, but far better than animal blood..." He trailed off._

 _A thought occurred to her. "What about when you were an Augustine vampire? Did vampire blood taste different then?"_

 _His expression darkened slightly, and Bonnie wondered if she shouldn't have asked that. "I remember it being better than human blood is to me now, but the actual taste is only a vague memory."_

 _Bonnie had heard tidbits of what had happened with the Augustine society from Elena, but during that time, she was preoccupied with being the anchor to the other side. Elena had been somewhat vague however, only mentioning briefly that Damon had been captured by them in order to explain where Enzo came from. Bonnie hadn't cared to ask for details then, but she was curious now._

 _"What…what did they do to you exactly?"_

 _Damon shrugged and took another sip of his drink. "Mostly they just ripped my organs out over and over again to see whether they might grow back in experiment after experiment," He looked to be getting lost in the memory. "Worst five years of my life."_

 _The hand not holding the apple reached out to touch his shoulder in a comforting gesture. "I'm sorry." She pulled her hand away. "At least you had Enzo."_

 _Damon scoffed. "Yeah, but nowadays, sometimes I wish he actually died in that fire."_

 _Bonnie shook her head in disapproval. "This is why you don't have friends."_

 _Damon grinned at her, his mood lightening again. "Who needs friends when I have a Bon-Bon."_

 _She rolled her eyes. "I'm not some_ thing _you can just have."_

 _The smirk on his face said otherwise. "Don't give me that look, Salvatore."_

 _"What look?" He denied as he brought the mug to his mouth again, staring at her with a playful intensity over the rim as he drank, the teasing smirk never leaving his face._

In the present, Bonnie shook herself of the memory. If Dr. Ross had this, there was a possibility that the Augustine Society still existed or at least another version of it. "Damon," she walked back over to the desk where he was still going through the computer. "You should see this."

She put the file on the desk and he glanced at the title, tensing up immediately. "Augustine?" He picked it up and flipped through it quickly. Bonnie watched the expression on his face, the way it grew stolid. "This is…"

"I thought the last of the Augustine Society was destroyed."

"So did I."

After skimming through the file, Damon returned his attention to the computer. "I'm sending all of this stuff to Alaric."

Bonnie nodded, and headed back towards the file cabinets to see if she could find anything else of interest, but something on the other side of the room caught her eye. She walked over to get a closer look. It was a picture of a group of people in lab coats. There were five men and three women, one of which was Dr. Ross. She was near the center smiling with an arm hanging off the shoulder of one of the men beside her. The other women, however, stood next to each other on the left end. Unlike Dr. Ross, they were both brunettes, but while one had olive skin, the other was extremely pale.

The face of the woman from her vision hadn't been clear, but the longer Bonnie looked at the woman, the more familiar she seemed. Bonnie took the photo out of the frame and pocketed it.

When Bonnie turned around, Damon was over by the file cabinets, and in the middle of the floor was a pile of folders. He was emptying out everything, and once it was all on the floor, he closed the now empty drawer he had opened and stood up. He left the room.

Bonnie could guess what he was about to do and understood why he was doing it. He wanted to destroy any physical evidence of her research so that no one besides them would be able to use what Dr. Ross discovered.

Walking over to the window, Bonnie pulled back the curtain. They were in a relatively nice suburban area, and there was some space between this house and the next, but not a lot. Bonnie only hoped that someone would call the fire department before it spread too far.

Damon came back into the room with a bottle of alcohol. She let the curtain fall before the sunlight hit him. "You're going to set this place on fire now?" She questioned him.

"Astute observation, Bennett. Looks like your college education payed off." His mood had obviously soured.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" She pointed at the middle finger of her left hand.

He looked down at his own left hand and cursed. It was still light outside. There was no way he was going anywhere for the next few hours without his daylight ring.

"Wait here. I'll go make you a new one." She looked him up and down, stopping on his pale white legs. He looked pretty ridiculous in the gown, and if they were still friends, she might've teased him about it. "I'll get you some clothes too while I'm at it."

After looking up directions back to the university online, Bonnie found a pair of car keys sitting by the door and headed out. She got inside the truck sitting in the driveway, started the car, and pulled off. The first thing she needed to do was make a phone call, but unfortunately she had no phone.

Bonnie stopped at the first gas station she passed and managed to scrape together some change she found in the truck. She got out and walked over to the nearby pay phone, put her change in, and dialed a number, hoping she remembered it correctly.

Someone answered on the third ring. "Hey. It's Bonnie."

"Bonnie? Is everything alright?"

"Is your sister around? I need to speak to her. It's urgent."

She was told to hold on for a moment and could hear him calling his sister. She must've been nearby.

"What's going on?" She asked. "Are you done with searching for the doppelganger yet?"

"I'm in a bit of a situation."

"What is it?"

"I lost the necklace."

"What do you mean you lost the necklace?"

"I mean we got into a bind and a witch destroyed all of my things."

She cursed. "You had it for less than a week. I swear, if you had just picked it up from the shop in New York and headed back down here-"

"I know that, but I need you to do the spell again as soon as possible, the one that makes it look as if I'm in multiple locations."

She sighed. "Fine, but you and I both know that won't last forever. I'll look into getting another necklace made."

"And the rings..."

"No. You're on your own with those. I know you can probably make them yourself, but you need to learn to cope with your issues and not lean on magic for quick fixes to things you don't want to deal with." Bonnie didn't want to admit she was right, but she knew she was. "Maybe your traveling companion might be able to help you with the vampire thing."

Bonnie frowned. "I'm not asking Damon for help."

"No need to get defensive, Bonnie. It was only a suggestion, but I have to go. Stay safe."

They said their goodbyes, and Bonnie hung the phone up. She had been pushing it, asking her to make the rings again, and she hadn't expected her to considering the fact that she was against her using them in the first place. She would deal with those later though, getting Damon a daylight ring and getting out of this city was her first priority.

Bonnie went back to the truck and was off again, headed back towards the university to get her car. Inside, she had a few wads of cash tucked away in case of an emergency and luckily, she kept her spare key hidden underneath the car. With that money, she'd be able to find Damon a possible daylight ring and some clothes. She'd noticed a store where she might be able to find something she could use as a daylight ring on her way into the city and her intent was to go there first after she'd gotten to the car, but along the way, the feeling in her stomach she'd been trying to ignore crept up on her.

The blood bag hadn't satisfied her in the least. She was craving again, but she reminded herself that she would only have to hold out until they made it back to the car and she could get to the cooler in her trunk. They had only lost a day so the blood inside should still be good. But her gums were itching again already, and even though she tried to ignore it, the feeling kept returning to the forefront of her consciousness. It was worrying that it was already this bad even after drinking that blood bag earlier, but Bonnie chalked it up to the effects of whatever drugs the professor had used on her earlier.

As chance would have it, she drove past a road that led to a hospital. The debate was over in her head as soon as it started and moments later she was making a u-turn.

It was the safest bet to eat as soon as possible. Her stomach was demanding food now, and she didn't want to let it get to a point where she'd be more than tempted to attack an innocent person.

Damon could wait.

* * *

 **A/N: This took a while. Aside from being busy, I just couldn't get the latter half of this chapter together, but hopefully it's alright, because I'm excited to move forward.**

 **The next chapter will be less plot and more Bonnie and Damon's relationship, so stay tuned!**

 **Also thanks to everyone who has left encouraging comments about this story and my writing! As a person with very little confidence in her writing, it really means a lot!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

 _Bonnie rolled her eyes. "He has nothing to do with anything."_

" _Bullshit. He has everything to do with everything. The sooner you realize that, the sooner you can let go of whatever emotions you're holding on to."_

* * *

Damon was getting antsy. Almost three hours had passed, and he expected Bonnie to be back by now. Dr. Ross' house was conveniently in a suburb only thirty minutes away from the city, so it shouldn't be taking her this long to get him some clothes and make him another daylight ring. Doubt started to creep into his mind as he considered the possibility of her just leaving him here.

The old Bonnie would never do something like that, but he wasn't so sure about this one. He had spent less than three days with her and time and time again, she was surprising him by doing things he never thought she'd do. Case and point being the way she snapped Dr. Ross' neck. Bonnie wasn't the type to kill anything other than a vampire without agonizing over it first, but the way she killed Dr. Ross indicated otherwise. It was uncharacteristic of her, but that wasn't to say he didn't approve. No. He admittedly approved maybe a little too much. Watching her torture Dr. Ross back in her office, then kill her in cold blood back in the basement had made his chest swell with an unexpected sense of pride he had no right to feel. He knew he couldn't attribute it to himself, but Damon liked to think he had a hand in making her this way, that maybe he might have played a small part in nurturing her darker depths even though this side of her undoubtedly developed within the eight years he'd been gone. Yet at the same time, he could swear he almost saw a reflection of himself in her, in the darkness that leaked out of her in those moments.

He could still see it in his mind's eye. Right before she killed the professor, the stoic iciness in her eyes had betrayed that darkness. He had never seen her look that way, not even when she'd been hellbent on getting revenge against Kai. It was as if a deep-seated pit of blackness had uncovered itself just enough for him to peek inside, and he had borne witness to a small glimpse of what lie beyond the surface. Inside of her had been the desire to do more than just kill, the desire to make the professor to suffer, but instead of giving into that desire, she held herself back.

It had been riveting, watching the emotions flash across her face in micro expressions he almost couldn't see, but they were there, betraying her desire, betraying who she had become behind the mask she wore.

It all made his curiosity peak to new heights once more. How far would she be willing to go? Who would she be willing to kill? What would happen if that mask she wore was stripped bare?

And once again, he was asking himself what happened to her while he was gone.

The words she'd said in her sleep before she awoke back in the basement lab played in his head. _No. Please don't do this or I'll have to kill you too. I'm begging you. Please...please don't make me do that._ She'd been pleading with someone and threatening them in the same breath. Then her head began to thrash from side to side, her breathing picked up, and tears began to fall from her eyes. At that point, Damon couldn't watch her any longer, and he called out her name until she woke up.

There was panic in her eyes, but after a few seconds, she brought herself back under control. Besides the tear stains on her cheek, there were no remnants of the fear he'd just seen. The tight, controlled expression returned without a crack as she'd assessed their situation, but Damon's mind had been focused on what he'd just heard. Who had she been speaking to? Who was she going to kill? Those questions swirled around in his head even now. Those along with all the other mysteries surrounding his little witch.

Damon was still lost in his thoughts when the front door opened, and Bonnie walked into the house. He was laid out across the living room couch, a picture of boredom as she threw a bag of clothes at him. She had changed out of the frilly floral dress and back into something similar to what she wore before, a black t-shirt and dark skin-tight jeans, though this time her jeans were more blue than black. The flats she left in had also been swapped for a black boot with a thick heel. He looked in the bag she had thrown at him to find that she'd gotten him something similar to what he wore before as well, a simple pair of black jeans, a gray shirt, and some black timbs.

"What took you so long?" Mild annoyance slipped into his voice as he stood up and pulled the thin hospital gown over his head in one swoop. Bonnie quickly turned around to give him some privacy as he got dressed.

"Finding you a daylight ring."

"And? Were you able to make one?"

She turned around right after he'd pulled his shirt over his head and pulled it out of her pocket. "Here," she handed the ring over to him.

He turned it over in his hand, appreciating that the style was similar to the one he wore before even though it had a different design. Nothing would replace the one he'd lost, but this would do for now. He placed it on the middle finger of his left hand where his old one used to rest.

Bonnie left the house, and Damon took a few bottles of alcohol from the kitchen, spreading it all through the basement and inside of Dr. Ross' office, making sure to heavily douse all her files and the computer. With a match he found, Damon sparked a flame and sped out of the house, the smell of smoke and burning wood already filling his nostrils.

Outside, Bonnie was waiting with the car running. For a change, she was in the driver's seat, so Damon got in on the passenger's side. Once he was back in the car, Bonnie pulled off, and they headed back on the road again.

Since The Armory's lead was a bust, Damon assumed their next move would have been to head back into the city and search through the rest of the covens for signs of the witch who killed Tyler, but he soon realized Bonnie was headed in the opposite direction.

"Where are we going?"

Bonnie pulled a photo out of her back pocket and passed it to Damon. "I found this in her study earlier. The woman at the end on the left looks like the one from my vision and conveniently 'University of Wichita, 2013' is written on the back."

"Another university," Damon noted with disdain. If Dr. Ross experimented on vampires, he was willing to bet the woman from her vision and the rest of these people might experiment on vampires as well. And if they had Elena…he didn't want to think about what they might be doing to her. But he did take solace in the thought that if they were using her blood for some sort experiment, they would need her alive.

"There's a strong possibility we might find her there. Or at the very least we might find a trail to follow." Her hands slid down the wheel as she made a turn onto the highway. "At any rate, we need to get out of the city as soon as possible. I don't know if Ross was a part of a coven, but the one I spoke to knew of her, and I don't need any angry witches coming after me. We'll replace our phones and things after we get further out of the city."

Damon couldn't argue with that. "Alright," he reached over and turned the radio on, then leaned back in his seat. "To Kansas it is then."

With nothing to do while she drove, Damon periodically studied her. She was concentrated solely on the road, and if she noticed his gaze, she said nothing. Lost in her own thoughts, her mouth was set in a tight line, but within the confines of the car, a heaviness still hung in the air as things left unsaid floated between them like a thick fog.

Damon was of half a mind to address those things. The other half of his mind resigned to let it be. He thought of his brother, of what he might do in this situation, the advice he might give him. _You have to show her,_ he heard Stefan's voice in his head. _Time heals all wounds Damon, and your actions going forth will be the band-aid. Just be patient with her._ And these were things Damon already understood, but he was certain that if she heard his reasoning behind the desiccation, it might serve as a bit of neosporin to the wound he caused. Though perhaps he was being too optimistic. It was just as likely she might twist his words and wring out some meaning beyond his intentions. Bonnie was a stubborn one. If she refused to see the good in something, she could be hard to convince.

Looking at her, he let it go for now. Damon couldn't read her as well as he used to, but it was clear she was in a bad mood. At first, he thought he might be the cause, but Damon hadn't said anything to her after their conversation when they first got in the car. There was nothing he could've done to warrant the change in her demeanor aside from existing, and she seemed oblivious to him, focused on whatever was going through her head. Of course he couldn't be sure because of the glaring issues between them, but her mood didn't seem to have anything to do with him.

He went back to staring at the road for a while, but he could feel her mood gradually worsen. Two hours later, her posture was tense and statue-like, and the tight line of her mouth deepened into a grimace. She tried to school her features into that impassive expression of hers, but she was unsuccessful. Something was bothering her.

Asking her what was wrong and getting an honest answer was a gamble with the odds stacked against him, but he did so anyway. "Something wrong?"

She kept her gaze on the road. "I'm fine." The words were strained with an edge to them.

"I can drive if-," he started to offer.

"I said I'm fine." Her voice rose a little, her tone sharp, rude, and dismissive. Inside, Damon bristled. He didn't know why he bothered.

He let her dour attitude bleed into his and unwisely said the first thing that came to his mind. "You sure you don't need some help getting that stick out of your ass?" He'd asked the question with the intention of getting a reaction out of her, and he wasn't disappointed.

"Be careful, Damon," she seethed.

Riling her up was a bad idea, but he couldn't help himself. "Or what?" He challenged.

"Or the stick in my ass will find its way through your heart."

"Right," He scoffed at her idle threat. "You and I both know you wouldn't kill me no matter how mad you are at me right now."

She scowled. "Don't be so sure."

"Go ahead. Prove me wrong then," he taunted.

Bonnie made no move to do anything, but her scowl deepened. She glanced at him, green eyes bright with fury as he gave her a mocking smile. Back in the old days, he had always loved getting under her skin, and it gave him a sense of satisfaction to know he still had some effect on her. "If it weren't for Elena-

"Oh, so we're hiding behind Elena now?"

That must have struck a nerve with her because the next thing Damon knew, his blood was boiling under his skin, vessels bursting not just in his brain, but all over his body. Pain saturated his nerve-endings to an almost unbearable extent. He groaned in agony, but withstood the pain, confident that she wouldn't kill him.

Bonnie didn't speak again until the pain started to subside. "I'm not hiding behind anyone. If anything, it's you who constantly hides behind her. Your desiccation is a prime example of that. She's always an excuse for you."

Here we go again. He wasn't going to bring it up, but one way or another it seemed their conversations would always lead back to the issues between them caused by his desiccation. "She wasn't an excuse for my decision. However misguided my actions were, I did it for your sake too." Something occurred to him then, something he hadn't thought to ask before now. "Did you ever read the letter?"

Bonnie's mood darkened further. Unbeknownst to Damon, a cord had snapped inside of her at the mention of the letter, but he could feel the way the air changed and grew heavier. "I read your letter Damon. I read it, then I tore it up, threw it in a fireplace, and watched it burn. I hope you weren't about to use that to justify why you did it because everything you wrote in that letter is the definition of you using Elena as an excuse."

Okay. That wasn't what he'd expected. "How exactly was I using her as an excuse?"

She quoted his letter word for word sardonically. "You're going to make me face a future without Elena, and you're going to help make me the best man that I can possibly be, same way she did, and I'm absolutely terrified of failing you both." She looked over at him again. "Tell me how that's not you saying you left because you can't handle Elena not being around."

Damon remembered every line of the letters he wrote to his best friends. Alaric's had come easily to him, but Bonnie's had been difficult to say the least. He'd agonized over how to put his feelings on the page for a long time and had decided against complete honesty. He didn't want her to blame herself, and if he was honest with himself, he didn't want her to know how much of a coward he really was. Damon was unaware of what he'd done, but in his effort to make it seem like she wasn't a large part of the reason he made the decision, he'd wrapped up his feelings for Bonnie in the way he felt for Elena.

Still, he defended himself. "You're missing the point and conveniently ignoring the part where I said I was afraid of failing you too, and that I'd rather let you down once than let you down for the rest of your life. You have to remember that you almost died because of my mistake after waking up from the phoenix stone, that you almost died because you tried to save me from Tyler. I failed you then, and even before that there have been countless other times where you've been in danger because of me. That's why I-"

She interrupted him. "You can stop right there if-"

"Jesus Christ Bonnie, will you let me finish speaking." Damon was exasperated with her and found his voice rising at her with frustration.

Her voice rose to match his. "No. I've heard enough, and I don't want to hear anything else you have to say. At this point, everything that comes out of your mouth is meaningless to me."

"Regardless, I need you to know that I was afraid of being responsible for your death, of you dying because I dragged you into another mess. I did it to protect you."

"To protect me?" She repeated incredulously before she barked out a sarcastic laugh. "You're so full of shit."

Damon turned towards her in his seat, his irritation peaking at her dismissal of him. "How exactly am I full of shit? I care about you Bonnie. I cared about you enough to remove myself from your life so you wouldn't be dragged down by me."

"Don't act like you did this for me, like you made a selfless decision for my sake when we both know your real motive was the fact that you couldn't live without her." Her temper steadily rose and the temperature inside the car rose with it. The air became hotter and heavier. Her smell heightened as magic noticeably began to leak off of her. Was she conscious of it?

"I'm not saying you were the only reason, nor am I saying she wasn't part of it too. What I'm saying is that from my perspective, leaving was for your benefit, and I only wanted you to have the future you deserved."

She opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it back into a tight line. "If that's what you believe, that's what you believe. I'm done with this conversation."

No. They were going to finish this. "If you have something to say then say it."

"I'm not going to go back and forth with you over this."

"You clearly need to get something off your chest."

"I don't need to get anything off my chest. There's nothing I want to say to you."

"That's a lie, and you know it. You're angry with me, you're upset with what I did, and you clearly have something to say about it, so say it. Say what you need to say, so we can get past this."

Her grip tightened on the wheel and her voice began to rise again. "You obviously don't get it, so let me spell it out for you. There is no getting past this, no moving forward, no anything that can happen. We can't be fixed, and we can't be friends again because what you did, the way you hurt me-" She choked over the last word, and Damon could see a crack in the walls she'd built around herself. A vulnerability entered her expression for the first time since he'd been back, but it only lasted for a second before the walls were back up again, and that vulnerability was once again buried underneath layers and layers of anger and resentment.

"I can't do this anymore." Abruptly, she pulled over into the emergency lane on the side of the highway, stopped the car, and cut off the engine.

"What are you doing?" Damon asked her.

She didn't spare him a single glance as she got out of the car, slamming the door behind her. She walked off in the direction of the woods.

Damon got out of the car as well. "Where are you going?" He shouted after her.

"Away from here. Away from you. Take the car, find your girlfriend. I'm done."

"Are you serious right now?" When she didn't respond, Damon sped after her. He fell into step behind her. "You're over-reacting. Come back to the car."

She looked back at him with a deep scowl on her face. "Fuck you." She turned around and kept walking.

"Bonnie, stop," he grabbed her arm to stop her, but in a reflexive motion, she snatched her arm away and turned to hit him. Her palm connected with his cheek and he reeled at the force behind the slap. He was shocked that it actually hurt for a moment before he remembered she was a vampire.

She turned to walk away, but he grabbed her arm again. This time he was ready for her retaliation. When she wrenched her arm out of his grasp, he leaned back an inch and caught her wrist again right before her fist could land on his jaw. What had gotten into her? Their eyes met and all he could see was fire and anger. Gone was any trace of the frosty expressionless demeanor she'd had until now. "Calm down," he said.

Magic continued to saturate the air around her to the point where Damon could feel it crackle against the palm holding her wrist. Up until now, Bonnie had been in complete control of herself, but since the moment they started back on the road, something had been off with her. There was something else going on here. He was sure of it.

"Let go," she tried to pull her wrist out of his grip, but Damon tightened his hold on her to a point that would be painful if she were human.

"Not until you calm down and agree to come back to the car with me."

She threw another punch with her free hand, and he narrowly missed her fist flying into his face again. Missing only seemed to upset her more, but before she could throw another or even think to use her legs, Damon grabbed her other wrist and sped her backwards, pinning her to a nearby tree. As an older vampire, he was naturally stronger, and he used that strength to keep her there. Restraining her arms at her side, he pushed his body into hers to stop her from struggling against his grip. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"You're what's wrong with me." She stopped struggling against him when she realized it was useless.

They stared at one another. Damon's head was less than an inch from hers, and the rest of them connected from chest to thigh. She radiated heat. Her body was hot through the thin fabric of her clothes, hotter than any vampire should be. Her magic licked against his skin, volatile, crackling, and threatening to unleash itself upon him. And yet, she refrained from actively using it.

"Get off me," she seethed.

"Not until you get a grip. You're acting crazy."

He watched the veins rise under her eyes, and her try to resist her face changing.

Damon paused at that. There were two instances where a vampire's face might change involuntarily. The first instance was if they were hungry. The second instance was usually when they intended to kill someone. It couldn't be the second instance. Despite her anger, Bonnie would never kill him. He was willing to bet his life on that. And even if she was somehow actually intent on killing him right now, he doubted she would be vying to control herself. So that only left the first. "You're hungry," he observed.

She bared her teeth at him and tried to buck him off her, but she only ended up rubbing herself against him. He was pushing almost his full weight into her alongside his vampire strength to keep her in place. It strained him to do so as she used her own strength against him.

"Let go of me!" Her magic finally turned violent, lashing against him. Damon was thrown back into the grass, and a rather large fallen branch behind him pierced him through the chest a few inches away from his heart. The pain cut through him, sharp and real. Being struck through by wooden anything was never fun, especially when it was less than five inches from his heart. He cursed and grit his teeth.

Bonnie froze at the sight of the branch going through him. Her temper left her as quickly as it came and a flash of regret ran across her features before they hardened again, but she didn't move. It seemed almost killing him had brought her back to her senses. She looked away from him. "I didn't…," she started, but then said nothing. Damon could've sworn she was going to apologize, but instead she stood there in silence while he slowly and painfully pulled himself off the branch.

Standing with a grunt, Damon lifted up his bloodied shirt and began to pull out the splinters so he could heal. While he did that, Bonnie went to the car then came back with two blood bags. The veins underneath her eyes reappeared as she gave him one and kept the other for herself. He opened it and took a few gulps, watching as she quickly downed the one in her hand.

Now that she's calmed down, he might be able to get some answers. "What just happened?"

She pulled the empty blood bag from her mouth, and stared off at some spot behind him. It was a long moment before she answered. "I'm not sure. I think maybe whatever Dr. Ross gave me might have some side effects," she explained.

That could explain her behavior, but it sounded as if she didn't actually believe that. She was hiding something from him. He watched her finger run over the spot where one of her rings used to be.

They walked back to the car together and Bonnie stared at the cooler in the open trunk.

"If you're still hungry, then you should eat," Damon said.

Unexpectedly, she listened. Bonnie took out another blood bag and Damon leaned against the car, watching her drink it. She finished it, hesitated for a moment, then closed the cooler. When she finished that one, she threw it in a small trash bag she kept for disposing her blood bags. Then she turned to look at Damon. He raised his eyebrows at her, wondering if she was going to try and run off again. "Let's go before I change my mind," she said instead.

She began to walk away, but Damon moved to block her path. He knew he shouldn't bring it back up, but despite the risk of setting her off again, he did so anyway because the rift between them gnawed at him. They needed to settle this. They needed to finish the conversation. "Before we go, I want you to say whatever it is you were going to say before you stormed off."

She let out a long sigh. "Why won't you let this go?"

He moved closer to her, noticing her magic had receded from the air around her. "You know why."

There was a long pause where neither said anything. They only stared at one another.

"Is this the future I deserved?" She asked him.

"No," he shook his head. "I know that I made a mistake, and I plan on making it up to you."

She shook her head. "I meant what I said earlier. You can't fix this. You made your choice and it's clear who was more important to you."

"My decision wasn't a choice between you or her."

"Wasn't it?" Her voice was steady this time, rising only slightly to convey her disbelief. "I can't believe you're blind enough to not see it that way. You were choosing to _never_ see me again, to leave me behind for good, to _abandon_ me, and not just me, but Alaric as well and most importantly, your brother who needed your help. You chose yourself and in choosing yourself, you were picking her over the rest of us. We didn't matter to you. _I_ didn't matter to you." She paused and tried to pull back the emotion in her voice when she next spoke, but Damon could hear it, could tell how much it pained her to tell him how she felt. "For me, it was like you'd decided to commit suicide, only worse because you knew you'd be waking up after I'd died sixty years later to live your happily-ever-after with her. So please don't lie to me and tell me that it wasn't a choice between me or her."

"I…" He hadn't seen it that way, hadn't expected her to see it that way so he was at a loss for words.

"You know what hurts the most though?" There was a sheen of water in her eyes, but no tears fell. "There wasn't a choice until you made it one. You could've had us both, but you couldn't wait for her, could you? You didn't want to be without her, and I wasn't enough to keep you here."

"Me trying to protect you-

"No, I don't want to hear that bullshit anymore. If you wanted to protect me by removing yourself from my life, you didn't have to completely abandon me the way you did. You could've just said that and been on your way to another country."

"You say that like I would've been able to stay away from you." His eyes widened as his own blurted admission caught him off guard. He never addressed what lie underneath his justifications, but this was merely him unknowingly uncovering his own deep-seated pit inside of himself where what was inside wasn't exactly darkness, but something else entirely, something that Damon still refused to acknowledge.

He held her gaze and watched her walls crumble while they spoke. Emotions flitted across her face unhidden and he could see the hurt he caused. There was that vulnerability he'd seen in the car, the look of the girl who cried when he left her in that Brooklyn warehouse eight years ago, the image that plagued his thoughts in the early stages of desiccation. But just as quickly as those walls had crumbled, they were rebuilt again and she contained her expression. She was not able to hide completely though, and she looked away with a lingering sadness still in her eyes. "And yet you left me anyway." She scoffed. "You're a walking contradiction."

He stepped closer to her, further into her personal space. "A walking contradiction who still cares about a certain green-eyed Bennett witch from Mystic Falls."

"Eight years ago, I believed that before you did what you did, but your actions speak louder than words."

And so they will because Damon was nowhere near ready to give up on their friendship.

Bonnie went silent, Damon let the conversation end, and in silent agreement, they both turned to get back in the car, but as he opened the door, a siren sounded off behind them. They exchanged a glance as a police car pulled up, and a lone officer exited the vehicle. He was young, surly looking man who obviously hadn't been a cop for long by the look of him. "Everything alright here? Got a call about a couple fighting off the side of the road." His eyes moved between Damon and Bonnie, warily settling on Damon.

In his peripheral vision, Damon saw Bonnie turn away from the officer. He frowned.

"Everything's fine."

The officer looked past Damon. "Ma'am, are you okay?"

Damon grabbed the officer and forced him to look him in the eye. "Everything is fine. Go back to your car, get in, and go find someone else to bother," he compelled.

The police officer turned around and headed back to his car. When he was at the door, Damon looked back at Bonnie, but she was gone. In an instant, she had run past him and was pushing the officer back against his patrol car. Her mouth was open with her fangs out and centimeters away from sinking into the flesh of the officer's neck.

Without thinking, Damon moved fast and roughly pulled Bonnie off the man who was reaching for his gun. Damon stopped him with one of his hands over the hand on the gun, and the other fisting his shirt. "Forget what just happened. Get in your car and drive away," he said.

The man followed his orders. He took his hand off his gun, then got in his car and drove off back into traffic. Damon turned back around. Bonnie who had stumbled back a ways after he pulled her off the cop was standing behind him. Her eyes had widened at what she'd almost done, and her gaze trailed after the police car until it disappeared from sight, something like fear staining her features.

Damon's eyes narrowed at her. How was she still hungry after downing two blood bags only moments ago? "I thought you didn't have a control problem."

Bonnie couldn't hold his gaze. For the first time, she appeared unsure of herself. "I don't. I…I think it might be another side effect."

She didn't believe that. He could tell. Something else was going on. Damon waited for the truth, and when she didn't give it, he turned back to the car. This time, he was driving. "Get in." He opened the passenger door for her.

After a short hesitation, she walked over and got in. Damon did the same on the driver's side and merged his way back onto the highway.

* * *

A while later, Damon pulled into the parking lot of a motel. It wasn't crowded, but there were a few people around.

"Why are we stopping?" Bonnie asked.

"We're spending the night here so you can sleep the side effects off. Besides," He looked at the hole in his shirt where the branch had pierced through him. There was dried blood everywhere. "I need to get cleaned up and I don't know about you, but I'm tired. I could use some non drug-induced actual sleep." When she didn't object, Damon parked the car. "Stay here. I'll go get us a room."

"Wait," Bonnie said and reached into her back pocket. She pulled out a couple of hundreds and handed Damon two bills. He had forgotten that all his money was gone because of the professor, but he could've also simply compelled whoever was at the front desk. He still took the bills anyway and headed towards the front entrance.

Inside, it wasn't nice, but it wasn't that bad either. The walls were covered with a faded wallpaper and the floor was a carpet with an outdated pattern. There was an old couch lining the wall where it looked like there was once a lounge area, but it was clear no one stayed here long enough to use it. Behind the front desk sat a bored teenager playing a game on his cell phone.

"I need a room, one with two beds."

He didn't look up from his phone. "It's fifty bucks a night."

Damon pulled out the hundred Bonnie had given him.

The kid finally looked up from his phone, sparing Damon a glance. He paused at the dried blood around the hole in his shirt but made no other reaction before he grabbed the money. It seemed he was used to seedy characters frequenting the place. "Give me a second." He sounded annoyed to actually have to do work. Putting down his phone, he put the money away in the register and typed something in on an old computer. Then he reached under the counter and pulled out a key to room 104. He held it out to Damon. "Here."

Damon took it.

"Enjoy your stay," the boy said with little emotion before returning to the game on his phone.

Damon walked back outside and went back to the car only to find it empty. Bonnie wasn't inside. He cursed, looking around the parking lot. There was a man going to his car, a woman having a smoke outside of her room, and another man unlocking his door on the second floor. No Bonnie.

For a second, he thought she might've left him like she had been about to do on the highway, but when he listened for any sign of her, he heard the unmistakable sound of her voice ordering someone to stand still and not make a sound.

Using his vampire speed, he followed the sound around the side of the motel and found Bonnie sinking her fangs into some unlucky soul.

Damon didn't bother to stop her this time. She already had her fangs in his neck, so he stood back and let her feed. Fresh blood might be what she needed, so why not let her have it.

He watched as her hand curled around the man's neck and into his hair while the other tightened on his shoulder. He was your average male, a dark-haired man with terror-soaked brown eyes, but he stood still for her, mouth open like he wanted to scream, but nothing came out. She leaned into him, digging her fangs deeper into his neck, and a faint moan escaped her. At the sound, Damon's hands twitched at his sides. His own hunger flared, but he remained where he was.

After a long moment watching her, Damon approached. They would have a dead body on their hands if she didn't stop soon.

She would regret it if she killed him. So like the good friend he was, he warned her. "You're going to kill him if you don't stop."

She made no sign that she heard him, so he touched her shoulder. Bonnie's head snapped towards him. A feral look was on her face to which Damon's eyebrows raised marginally. His gaze flicked down to the blood around her mouth, eyes watching her tongue as it darted out to lick her lips. "You know me, Bon-bon" Damon began, returning his gaze to her eyes. "I have no problem with drinking till the last drop. You, on the other hand, or the Bonnie I used to know, would have the guilt trip of a lifetime if she killed a random person. But if you don't care anymore, go right ahead."

She glowered at Damon, then turned back towards her prey, but something about the sight of the man made her pause. As she realized what she'd just done, the change on her face was gradual as her expression transformed into one of unadulterated shame.

When she looked at Damon, she struggled to contain herself. Horror and shame at what she'd done showed through her features no matter how much she tried to hide it. So instead of looking at him, her gaze lowered back to the man, to the mess she'd created. He was barely able to stand. His head was lolling to the side, and he looked pale. The holes in his neck from her fangs were more like tears, and blood was still leaking out.

Immediately, she bit her wrist and put it to the man's mouth, forcing him to drink some of her blood. Then, when he was less pale and the holes around his neck had closed, she compelled him to forget everything that happened there and sent him on his way. By the smooth way she fed him her blood and then compelled him, Damon suspected that this might not have been the first time she'd bitten someone.

After the man disappeared around the corner, she looked back at him. "Damon, I-" Whatever she was about to say tapered off into silence. Her head was low, the opposite of the confident Bonnie he'd seen so far.

"What?"

She shook her head. "Never mind. It's nothing," she said, leaving Damon to wonder.

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! I kinda wanted to do this chapter from Bonnie's perspective to show the development of her emotional instability and where it's coming from, but I was too lazy to re-write it, and we're definitely going to get into that next chapter anyway, but let me know what you think! I'm also curious to know what people think about the argument they had. Was it too much too soon? Does my interpretation of the letter make sense? Would love to know your thoughts!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

 _"I'm not holding on to anything."_

 _Bonnie's insistence was returned with a disbelieving look. "Do we have to talk about the letter? You cried when you finally read it, and then you shut yourself in your room for hours. You obviously still care about him."_

* * *

Bonnie was a mess. A floodgate had opened inside her, and emotions poured out of her like rushing water. She struggled to contain them, but she had already been swept up in the current and was barely managing to stay afloat. It was the same as when she'd first become a vampire. Her emotions had been erratic then too, but back then she had been able to control herself to some extent. This time control was much harder. She could constantly feel herself at the edge of losing it and knew that if she took one step in the wrong direction, she would slip right back into the current again.

It didn't help that the most pressing source of her issues, her insatiable hunger, still loitered in the back of her mind. It sat there, a dissipated red haze of bloodlust waiting to overwhelm her consciousness like it had just done less than an hour ago, and if she ignored it for too long again, it would undoubtedly sneak up on her until it couldn't be ignored. Consequently, blood was always on her mind. The phantom taste of it lingered in her mouth, and her tongue absentmindedly swirled around in search of the real thing only to be left disappointed.

She hated this feeling, hated the desire for blood coursing through her. It took her a while to accept it after she first turned, and she had considered going the animal blood route like Stefan, but that wasn't a viable option for her. Animal blood made a vampire weaker, and Bonnie couldn't afford to be weak, so she had elected to go with a blood bag only diet. Still, in her early days, there had been a mishap where she sank her teeth into human flesh, and as anyone who knew Bonnie might expect, she immediately hated herself afterwards and vowed to never do it again.

Bonnie took comfort in the knowledge that she still felt the same way. She thought becoming a vampire might change that part of herself, but she had been worried for nothing. No matter how enticing the thought of drinking from people was or how good she felt in the midst of drinking blood, Bonnie still hated herself afterwards even if she was fantasizing about doing it again.

Warm shower water pelted her face as her mind wandered back to the man she bit earlier. She tried not to think about it, but it played in her mind on a loop. She couldn't get the feeling of it out of her head. Drinking from a human had been better than the blood bags by far, better than she remembered. Nothing could compare to that first spurt of blood after the tips of her fangs pierced his soft pliant skin. It was orgasmic, and the feeling of hot blood flowing into her mouth was a high like nothing she'd ever experienced. For the first time, she understood from the vampire's perspective why sex and blood went hand in hand.

She chewed her lip. It had been a while since she'd last gotten any. Her eyes closed, and, while trying to ignore the shameful voice in her head, she let a hand slide over her breast and down the length of her body as she toyed with the thought of getting herself off. But just as soon as she had that thought, a burst of self-loathing stopped her. What was she thinking? She tamped down on her arousal, willing it to go away. This was a stupid idea. Even though she would probably benefit from some stress relief, Damon could return at any moment and he would probably have a field day if he caught her getting herself off in the shower. She could already imagine his blue eyes full of mirth at the prospect while he made some offensive, asinine comment about her sexuality, and Bonnie was not in the mood for that.

Instead, she turned the water off and stepped out, grabbing a towel off the rack. Drying herself off, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. There were a few faded scars marring her arms, torso, and thigh. Many of which had come from her earlier days as a huntress, when she was clumsier with her kills. There was one scar, however, that wasn't supposed to be there, one she received after she became a vampire. Her fingers traced over the thin raised line that trailed from beside her belly button to the side of her rib cage. It was made by the blade of a knife spelled to kill her and served as one of the many reminders of her past transgressions. She stared at it for one last second before she wrapped the towel around her then headed back into the room.

Going through her duffel bag for a change of clothes, she pulled out a pair of shorts and a plain white shirt. Damon was likely to be back soon, so she let her towel fall to the floor and hastily put on a bra and a plain pair of black boyshorts. She was pulling a tank top over her head when, with no warning, Damon came through the door.

Bonnie was facing away from the door when he came in, but she knew it was him by the distinct male scent that permeated the air. She turned to look, watching as his eyes raked over her, stopping on the smooth length of her legs. His gaze traveled over the length of her calves, stopping when they reached the scar on her thigh before continuing upwards until they stopped again on the faded scars on her arms. Bonnie refused to make any sudden moves to show him just how uncomfortable his perusal of her body made her. Instead, she folded her arms across her chest impatiently, and the movement made him raise his eyes. Unexpectedly, those blue irises held a searing look before his gaze suddenly chilled.

Her lips curled into a frown. "Are you done staring?"

A corner of his mouth quirked up at the sign of discomfort. "Been working out Bon-bon?"

"You could say that."

His gaze unabashedly dipped again, and her frown deepened.

Then he turned to place his things down on the old frayed couch beside him, and Bonnie finally moved to put her shorts on. "I noticed the tattoo on your back by the way."

Bonnie froze for a millisecond before she pulled up her shorts the rest of the way. "And?"

"What exactly is it?"

"It's nothing, just something I got while I was under the influence," she lied, hoping he would drop the subject.

He gave her a sidelong glance, but he thankfully didn't ask her about it again. Instead, he took off his tattered shirt, threw it on the couch and stalked off into the bathroom. While he took a shower, Bonnie sat down on her bed and laid back, wishing she had gotten a phone so she could vent to the one person who always listened to her problems. That was on the top of her list of things to do tomorrow before they reached Kansas.

Looking for something to keep her attention, she turned on the TV and let the news play in the background. Her eyes flicked to the hole in his shirt that she'd caused and a fresh wave of regret surfaced. It angered her that she could still regret almost killing him. He deserved death for all the things he's done, and she shouldn't care what happened to him, but seeing that branch sticking though him, her immediate thought had been _what if I had killed him?_ And she imagined it going through his heart, imagined the life draining out of him as he succumbed to death, and the resulting heaviness in her own heart terrified her. Bonnie shook her head and cursed her heart for what she felt for him. He didn't deserve it, and after everything he'd done, it made no sense how could she still care for him the way she did.

And now he knew just how much she cared about what he'd done to her and just how personally she took it, which was irritating in and of itself. If Bonnie had her way she would've never told him what she did back on the highway. She hated how weak she felt blurting her feelings to him, but they had festered inside of her for a long time and it was no surprise that they poured out of her in this condition. Almost crying in front of him though. That was unacceptable. That and then there was that line he spouted. _You say that like I would've been able to stay away from you._ She scoffed aloud. Screw him for saying that crap like he believed it, and screw herself for believing that he believed it, that he really thought in that twisted head of his he was somehow doing the right thing. But it didn't change the fact that he was okay with abandoning her, that he cared more about living in a future with Elena than a future without her, his supposed best friend.

While Bonnie stewed over what had transpired in the last two hours, it wasn't long before Damon came out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist. He walked over to the couch and while his back was turned towards her, her eyes roamed for a moment. She had seen it all before because Damon didn't understand the meaning of modesty, but that didn't stop her from averting her eyes when he dropped the towel and she received an unwelcome glimpse of his pale white ass.

"Are you hungry at all?" Bonnie hazarded a glance back in his direction. Thankfully, he was already fully dressed.

It had been less than an hour and admittedly, Bonnie could eat, but the hunger wasn't as strong as it had been in the car. In fact, she felt much better than she had since they'd left Dr. Ross' basement lab. Whatever hunger she felt was only a dull hum in the back of her head. "I'm fine."

At her answer, Damon made himself comfortable on the couch. He told her earlier that he requested a room with two beds, but instead they received a room with one bed and a couch that wasn't even a pull-out. After letting his annoyance with the kid at the front desk be known and Bonnie convincing him it's not really worth it to complain, he claimed the couch for himself and told Bonnie to take the bed.

Glancing at him while he got comfortable on the couch, she bit her lip. She should tell him what she suspected to be the real reason behind her change in mood. He would find out anyway when, as he probably suspected, the hunger wouldn't just go away tomorrow morning or the day after that. "There's something I should probably tell you."

He waited for her to continue.

"The rings I wore," his eyes dipped down to her fingers where they rested in her lap. "One of them was a bloodstone ring spelled to help dampen the bloodlust so I wouldn't need to drink as often. I think it might be the real reason behind my current lack of control when it comes to feeding."

"So you lied earlier when you said you think it might be another side effect from the injection. You don't think it has anything to do with what Dr. Ross gave you."

Bonnie ignored his accusatory tone. "It's more than likely that losing the ring is behind this. The spell to make it was a complicated one and I was warned that there would be side-effects if I ever took it off."

"Exactly how long had you been wearing this bloodstone ring?"

She took a second to think. "Since about three weeks after I turned."

He mulled over that information. "That's two and a half months of suppressed vampire instincts. Why were you using it in the first place?"

"I accidentally bit someone after I first turned, and I didn't want it to happen again."

He leaned back on the couch. "That's not how being a vampire works. You wanted it to happen again. It's instinctive to want it, but you're scared of that instinct. You didn't want to want it because goody two shoes Bonnie Bennett is still holding onto her human morals even after becoming a vampire, and you're afraid to let go."

"I'm not scared. I just don't want to hurt people. Why is that such a bad thing?" She asked, but then realized who she was talking to. "Nevermind, don't answer that."

"You need to embrace vampirism for what it is."

She knew this, had heard some version of that statement before from a few other people, but it was hard for Bonnie to compromise more of her values for the sake of survival as a vampire when she had already compromised so much.

"Are you going to tell me what the other rings did.? And the necklace? I'm assuming they all had some effect since you seemed upset about losing all of them."

The problems that losing the others might cause weren't as immediate as what losing the bloodstone one did, so Bonnie didn't see the sense in telling him what they were for. If she did, they would only be another source of more and more questions she had no intention to answer. "No."

"So I shouldn't be worried about backlash from those?"

"It's nothing I can't handle."

Damon eyed her but didn't say anything. Grabbing a couch pillow, he adjusted it beside the armchair and laid back on the couch with his arms folded behind his head on top of the pillow.

"I'm not a ripper by the way." The words came tumbling out of her mouth, and Damon opened his eyes again to look at her. "I mean, I wasn't one before I had the bloodstone ring made. Though right now, I'm not so sure." Even now, she could feel the desire for blood ever present in the back of her mind.

He sighed through his nose. "If you were a real ripper, you'd be worse than this. But, you do have some distinctly ripper qualities right now, namely the excessive bloodlust, inability to control yourself around people, and the aggression, but if Stefan was a level ten ripper in his Monterey days, you're at about a five."

She rolled her eyes. "That makes me feel so much better."

He closed his eyes. "Don't worry Bon-bon. It will pass."

It didn't take long for him to fall asleep after that, and out of a courtesy he didn't deserve, Bonnie turned off the TV and the lights before laying back on the bed. For a long while, her thoughts were a mixture of blood and a longing to go back home and get away from Damon.

She looked over at him, eyes tracing the peaceful lines of his face in the dark.

Then she turned over and stared at the window across from her. She was tired, but she didn't want to go to sleep because there was a strong possibility the nightmares she had woken from in Dr. Ross' house would return. What she didn't tell Damon was that another one of her rings, one made of a stone called hematite, had protected her from them. Without it, they would certainly return and Bonnie would rather stay awake than suffer through them so that's what she endeavored to do.

Though after an hour of staring at the ceiling with nothing to occupy her mind, Bonnie found herself slowly slipping into sleep until she was completely gone. And just as she thought they would, the dreams returned. They were filled with death, of people that she'd killed and the guilt that consumed her from past actions. Repressed memories played out in her mind as she relived things she wanted to forget, and just like in the basement lab, her body tensed and her breathing picked up as she found herself back in the forest of her nightmares.

But then somewhere in the midst of her dream she felt the cool phantom touch of a finger running across the wrinkles of her furrowed brows, and her dreams transformed.

 _One second, she was crying as she murdered someone she once called friend, and the next tears were rolling down her face as she curled up on the bed inside her room in the boarding house. The prison world was a lonely place, and the loneliness was sometimes too much, and when it became too much, she would cry until she couldn't cry anymore, just like she was doing now. She missed them, her family, her friends, the noises of just being around people. She was drowning in the silence of this world._

 _Damon heard her. He always did even if sometimes he pretended he didn't. But this time, he didn't pretend. Her doorknob turned and Damon stood in the archway watching her for a moment. It had gotten to a point where he didn't have to say anything, he just walked over to the side of the bed, sat next to her, and brushed her hair back. His hand nestled itself on her cheek and running his thumb over the wrinkles in middle of her forehead until she stopped crying. Even though she was facing away from him, her hand found its way into his other one, and Bonnie found comfort in the presence of the last person she ever thought she would find comfort in._

 _It wasn't unusual for them to stay that way, him sitting on the bed beside her while she drifted off to sleep, but Bonnie usually woke up alone. There were a couple of times, however, where she woke up in a rather precarious position, and this was one of those times._

 _Consciousness first returned to her when she adjusted her head and felt her lips slide against cool skin. Her eyes opened halfway, and she vaguely realized she was tucked into Damon's arm and using his bicep as a pillow. She tempered the urge to bury herself into the cool warmth of his shoulder and go back to sleep, knowing that would be a bad idea. No. She needed to get up and get away from him._

 _She wore a long shirt with no bra and a pair of underwear. That was it. The arm she wasn't resting on was lazily resting across her hip and her hands were trapped between them, maintaining a modicum of space between her chest and his. He wasn't wearing a shirt by the way, and with the covers half off of them, she could see every line of his torso in the daylight. She let her eyes wander down his chest until they reached the v sitting just above his sweatpants, then back up to his face. Inwardly, she groaned, annoyed with herself for getting distracted. It wasn't as if she hadn't seen it before. She had seen him shirtless numerous times, so much so that she shouldn't be reacting like this._

 _One of his legs was pressed against the length of hers and in an effort to get up, she began to move her legs away from his. The moment she moved, however, he shifted and she stiffened, the arm resting across her hip moved upwards, dragging her shirt a bit as it settled around her waist, and pulled her into him, crushing her arms between her chest and his. "Don't go yet." His voice was low and gruff with sleep._

 _"Damon…" Her hands pressed flat against his chest and pushed in an effort to put more space between them._

 _In response, Damon tightened his grip on her. "It's still early. Go back to sleep."_

 _Bonnie glared at the skin of his shoulder where her head was firmly tucked in. She was flush against him now and her skin burned hotly where he was pressed against her. There was no way she was getting back to sleep like this. "I'm already awake." She tried to move away from him again._

 _"No." His grip was firm. "I'm not letting you go... Not again."_

 _She struggled against him, but he was a vampire and she was a witch with no magic. It was futile. "Not again," the words seemed to echo in her mind, and there was something in his tone that made her pause. "Relax. Go back to sleep." As if the words were a spell, she relaxed and stayed in his arms, until somehow, she fell asleep once more._

 _When she woke up again, he was gone, and an empty feeling was left in his wake._

Her eyes opened with a start. Forgetting where she was for a second, she was almost surprised at the strong scent of Damon in the air around her. She looked over at the couch on the other side of the room, then listened for any evidence of his presence. There was no sign of him anywhere.

She tried not to think about the dream she just had. Half of it was a memory. At night when she couldn't stop crying, Damon would comfort her back then and sometimes he fell asleep with her, and sometimes she would wake up and they would be closer than she liked, but he was always gone in the morning. They had never been that close, and he never said what he said to her in the dream, but Bonnie refused to dwell on it. Thoughts of the dream receded as the red haze of bloodlust beginning to cloud her mind. The hunger was no longer a dull hum in the back of her head, but a loud buzz in the forefront. Bonnie was famished, and she needed to eat.

Standing up, she took off her shorts, walked over to her bag, pulled on a pair of jeans, then threw on a shirt over her tank top. She headed towards the door, but just as she reached for the doorknob, it turned, and in walked Damon.

Bonnie backed up as he came into the room and her eyes immediately went to the blood bags in his hand. He held them out to her. "Figured you might wake up hungry." Without a word of thanks, she practically snatched them out of his hand before she immediately started to drink them down. She savored the taste of it, the feeling of the liquid running down her throat. She caught Damon watching her, but payed him no mind as she drank the blood.

When she finished, he asked her if she was still hungry, and she hesitated to tell him because she felt like she should be satisfied, but she wasn't. Two blood bags had always been more than enough even before wearing the bloodstone ring, but she wanted more. Damon left the room again, leaving the door open, then came back in a moment later with an obviously compelled person in tow. The sound of the blood in their veins immediately drew her attention and she felt herself begin to salivate despite having drank the two blood bags already.

Her brow furrowed. "What are you doing?"

"I'm testing a theory."

"What theory?"

"The theory that you can't get full off of regular blood bags anymore, that you won't be satisfied unless you drink from the source."

Bonnie stared at the woman. She was an average-looking girl probably in her early twenties. Her body was relaxed, but Bonnie could see the fear in her eyes the same way she saw the fear in the eyes of the man she bit yesterday. She wasn't doing this again. "I'm not drinking from her."

Damon stared at her as he pulled the woman's neck to the side and bit into her flesh. He tasted a little for himself before stepping back and letting a drop of blood run from her neck.

When the smell hit the air, Bonnie instinctively opened her mouth to taste it. "I'm not doing it."

"You sure? Because she tastes absolutely delicious." He ran his tongue over the blood leaking from her neck.

Bonnie licked her lips and could feel the veins running under her eyes. "Don't make me do this, Damon."

"The blood bags should've been enough, but by the look on your face, you obviously need the real stuff. The fact that you're still struggling to resist it now tells me all I need to know. You need to drink, and we're not leaving until you do."

"No," she said, pissed at him for doing this, but she could feel herself caving. The red haze threatening to cloud her mind until blood was all she could hear, see, or smell.

"You need this and you know it. We're headed towards another city, and if you can't control yourself, it's going to be a problem for both of us." He was right. Bonnie wasn't sure if she would be able to hold herself back around so many people, but even so... "If you're worried about killing her, don't. I'll stop you if you go too far." He pulled the woman's head further to the side. "Drink."

Unable to resist any longer, Bonnie walked towards the woman and stopped in front of her. Inhaling deeply, she sighed. It smelled so good, like sweet cherries waiting to be devoured. Unconsciously, her hands went to the woman's waist, fingers running across the bit of skin between her shirt and pants before rising to grip her waist. She needed it after all, and Damon promised to stop her. Her eyes met with the woman's fearful ones and an apology was on the tip of her tongue, but it never came. She merely licked her lips once more, then locked eyes with Damon as she allowed herself to feel the need and let the bloodlust dictate her actions.

She sank her aching fangs into the woman and let the blood rush into her mouth. Her eyes fluttered shut, and she couldn't help but moan, all her senses a haze of pleasure as she let herself have what she craved more than anything. Latching onto that feeling, she was lost to the rest of the world. Only blood mattered.

In the back of her mind, she could sense his eyes on her as she sank further into the bite, but she was too gone to care. Her hands mindlessly trailed along the girl's torso, her touch making the woman unintentionally lean into her as she pulled more and more blood, never wanting it to end. She could do this forever.

"Alright. That's enough." Damon's voice echoed in the back of her mind, but she didn't listen. She needed more.

"Bonnie," She was pushed away from the girl by her shoulder and she couldn't' stop the feral snarl that left her as she pushed back against him. He stepped from behind the girl to move in between her and Bonnie. "Stop." He placed both his hands on her shoulders and when she looked up him, the bloodlust clouding her mind began to recede.

She stepped away from him, shaking her head to clear the rest of the cloud and once it was gone, she felt clearer than she did before, clearer than she did after she drank form the blood bags. And with that clarity came a rush of anger. Bonnie stepped up to Damon. "Don't do that again, Damon, or we're going to have a problem."

"Don't do what again?" Was he playing with her or just ignorant?

"Manipulate me into drinking blood like that."

"We're just going to ignore the fact that I was right?"

She bared her teeth at him, grabbed his shirt, and jerked him down to her level. Magic began to leak a bit into the air around her. "I don't care if you were right. Try it again and see what happens." She let go of his shirt, but he loomed over her, eyes widening in that crazy way of his as he smirked at her.

"Is that a threat?"

"Did it sound like one?" Her voice dripped with sarcasm as magic coiled outside her body, and tension coiled inside her body from his nearness. She flexed her fingers at her sides.

"If you want to get physical again, we can have a row anytime, anywhere Bon-bon."

She ignored the double entendre in his words that was surely meant to get under her skin, and forced herself to calm down until her magic receded. "You must have a death wish."

"Maybe, but if this was vampire versus vampire with no magic, I would win. Let's not forget I have almost two hundred years on you."

She snorted. "Please. I've gone up against vampires more than twice your age and won, even as a human."

"Being a huntress doesn't count. I'm talking about two people with no weapons, no tricks." They were still standing inches apart, and he leaned his head closer to hers in what was meant to be an intimidating fashion, but she was far beyond being intimidated by him. "Still think you can beat me then."

Bonnie met the challenge in his eyes with a roll of her own. "I know I can, but I'm not having this argument with you anymore." She suddenly remembered that they had an audience, and guilt racked her stomach as she realized how easy it was for her to disregard the human she just fed on. This was what she was afraid of. "Since you brought her, you take care of her. I'm going to the bathroom and I'll meet you outside when I'm done."

Bonnie didn't wait to see if Damon moved before she stalked off into the bathroom. Closing the door behind her, she turned on the faucet and splashed some water on her face. She took a moment to look at herself in the mirror. She could handle this. She could do this.

After gathering her things, she met Damon outside by the car. He was alone and the girl was nowhere in sight. With no words, they quickly made their way back onto the road. Damon was driving again and Bonnie was inclined to think that was because he didn't trust her after her little stunt the day before. She didn't blame him, but that didn't mean she wasn't irked at the thought of him doubting her.

"Let me know when you need to eat again," he had the nerve to say.

"I don't want your help."

"But you need it. Until your cravings subside to a manageable level and you're in complete control of yourself, you need someone there to stop you before you go too far. If we had more time, I'd lock you up somewhere and wait these side-effects out."

Bonnie's face twisted at the thought. "You're assuming I would let you."

"I know you would because it's the right thing to do, and that's your MO Glenda."

Was it? After everything she's done, Bonnie wasn't so sure about that anymore.

* * *

Bonnie had wanted to stay in the car when they stopped to replace their phones, but Damon dragged her along with him to keep an eye on her. It was annoying how much he didn't trust her to behave herself, but Bonnie tried to let go of that irritation. He was only trying to prevent her from killing someone which was the last thing Bonnie wanted.

It had been about three hours since they first started on the road and they were in a town just outside of Kansas City. The hunger was scratching at the back of her mind again, but she tried her best to ignore it. That strategy wouldn't last long though. She could feel it growing louder and eventually it would reach the point where it couldn't be ignored again. It was already too easy to lose herself in listening to the heartbeats around her.

When they left the store with new phones, Damon turned towards her. She knew what he was going to ask her by the look on his face. "I can wait until we reach the city," she said.

"That wasn't a complete denial and as much fun as I had pinning you to a tree, I would rather not deal with a ravenous Bonnie again."

"Fine," Bonnie's eyes were already glued to the nearest person, and seconds later, she pulled them over to a spot in the shadows behind a nearby building. She compelled her to stay quiet and keep her mouth shut.

She sank her teeth into her neck, relishing in the feeling of fresh warm blood going down her throat for the second time that day, but she wasn't completely lost in the feel of it like she had been this morning. She could feel Damon's eyes on the back of her head, watching her and far too soon, she felt his hand on her shoulder trying to pull her back.

"That's enough."

A little more, Bonnie thought with her mouth still latched onto the man's neck.

"Bonnie," he warned, but she ignored him.

Damon attempted to pull her off the man gently by grabbing her arm, but she snatched her arm away from him. He moved in close behind her, close enough that she could feel him. And the next thing she knew, she was being pulled back into him by her ponytail, the motion of her head being yanked back detaching her fangs from the neck of the man in front of her. Bonnie snarled at him for that, but once she was forced to let go, she could feel the cloud clearing in her mind again.

She was leaning back against him, her back against his front, her head on his shoulder. Looking up at him, Bonnie saw his eyes flick down to her mouth as she licked away the residual blood around her lips. "You know," he was close enough that she could feel his breath fanning against her cheek. "I think you enjoy this."

Too close. He was too close. She stepped away from him, and he let go of her. "You're wrong."

"No. I think you enjoy being a vampire more than you let on, that you hate yourself for it, and that's why you used the ring." His methane eyes dared her to deny it.

"You're wrong, Damon. It goes against everything inside of me to get enjoyment out of being an abomination to nature, and if you think I somehow enjoy this, then you really don't know me anymore."

Yet as she said that, Bonnie wasn't sure that her words rang entirely true. She hated feeding, but she couldn't deny that right now it was hard not to enjoy it. Drinking from the vein brought an extra high that she didn't want to come down from.

Speaking of, she compelled the man to forget everything that happened, healed him, and sent him on his way.

Even if she didn't enjoy the feeding aspect, she certainly didn't mind the physical benefits. Who wouldn't enjoy the extra speed and strength. Because of it, she no longer had to rely solely on her magic. She was powerful without it, and with it she was more powerful than ever, and it was hard not to enjoy being that powerful after feeling so weak for so long.

Out of nowhere, a prickly sensation ran across her neck, making her alert. It felt like someone was watching her, but when she looked around, there was no one to be found.

Damon noticed. "What is it?"

Bonnie didn't like the ominous feeling that washed over her. It was a feeling that could mean numerous things, none of which were good. "I'm not sure. It could be something or nothing. Either way, we should get out of here."

"Fine. But we'll stop for another quick bite right before we go to the University."

Bonnie didn't like how she was almost looking forward to it.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for any mistakes and s** **orry this took so long, but t** **hanks for reading! Next one will hopefully be out sooner rather than later!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

 _"You promised you would never bring that up again."_

 _"I know, but you need to hear this because you refuse to admit just how much he meant to you, how much he still means to you."_

* * *

It wasn't like he didn't notice.

She had an eye-catching heart-shaped face. Her full lips had a distinctive cupid's bow and were perpetually curved, offset by her asymmetrical jawline, a flaw that only served to make her face more uniquely beautiful. Her skin was a smooth radiant shade of caramel despite the scars he saw yesterday, and her body was petite and slimly toned with perfectly placed curves only slightly thicker than he remembered.

Bonnie was attractive, had always been attractive, but Damon relegated that fact to the back of his mind. He had to because noticing was a slippery slope for him. She was already his best friend, already one of the people closest to him that he trusted more than anyone. So if he started noticing, he was in trouble.

Damon had gone down this path before. It was hard not to notice her during that summer they spent in Europe. Bonnie was in peak form, dangerous, vibrant, and practically irresistible. Constantly, he found himself gravitating towards her, wanting to be around her, wanting to touch her. But anytime he felt he was getting too close, he forced himself to drown out that attraction in other women.

Before that there was 1994, an entirely different situation that was equal to if not worse than Europe. Being alone together, they had become far too comfortable there, and certain lines had almost started to blur, but they were made clear again once they returned, and Damon tried his hardest to keep them clear because he was still with Elena, and he still loved her. Whatever he felt towards Bonnie was a product of being trapped with her for so long. It couldn't be more because it only made sense that if you left a man and a pretty girl alone together long enough, the man would start to want her. And that's all it was, him fixating onto the one person who could fulfill his desires at the time.

Bonnie was his _friend_ , and if asked, he would deny ever feeling any attraction towards her until the day he died, but if Damon was honest with himself, he would admit that even now it took effort, maybe more effort than it should take, for him to keep his thoughts straight, and the reason was because he was already paying attention to her more than he should.

In his defense, it was hard not to.

As a vampire, Bonnie oozed confidence. She was wary of her surroundings when they went places, but she still looked as if she knew could take anyone in the room. It was hard for him not to be drawn to that, not to wonder where this level of confidence came from because the previous Bonnie, while confident, was still more insecure than anything. And maybe those insecurities were still there underneath it all, but there was something about her that screamed she was more powerful than you and she knew it.

When she fed, that power exuded from her. He could see it in the fervid way she held the person she was feeding on even if she pretended she didn't like it as much as she did. Damon knew what she was feeling. It was what all vampires felt- that predatory instinct to revel in being in a position of power, in a position to control whether someone lives or dies. She might not want to admit just how much she enjoyed that power, but her expression gave it away.

After her fangs pierced flesh, the moment she tasted blood, her face would contort into ecstasy like she'd just received a hit of her favorite drug. With that expression, she would moan audibly once, and as she sucked more and more blood, he would hear the occasional soft hum in the back of her throat. Partially, it had to be the side-effects of not having the ring, but Damon refused to believe that it was entirely the ring's fault. Maybe afterwards, she looked a little guilty, but she was enjoying it. There was no way she would moan like that if she didn't.

His musings were interrupted by the sudden feeling of magic in the air around him. He glanced over at Bonnie. Her eyes were closed, and the air sparked with something warm, a layer of something intangible threatening to wrap itself around him. But just as swiftly as he felt it, its presence was gone, the warmth of it leaving the air cold.

"What was that?" He asked her.

"I just did the spell to make sure Elena's still alive somewhere."

"Good to know, but why could I feel your magic like that?" Damon had never been able to feel her magic that strongly in the air around her before.

Bonnie looked over at him, weighing how to answer. "I suppose it's because I'm not wearing the rings anymore. Some of them consumed a lot of my magic at a constant rate to remain effective, and without them, I tend to overflow a bit when I do spells… or when I get upset."

"So you don't have complete control."

"In a sense, but I wouldn't say that I don't have control."

"Then what would you say?"

She took a moment before she answered. "I'll put it this way. When I use magic, it listens, but it's still volatile, ...probably because I have too much of it." The last part was added on as an afterthought, and Damon wondered how it was possible for her to have too much magic.

Turning a corner, he stopped at a traffic light. They were already in Wichita, close to the university, and Damon pulled over so they could find someone for Bonnie to feed on.

They both got out of the car. The street wasn't too busy and there was a nook between two buildings where Bonnie immediately dragged an unlucky woman who happened to be walking in front of her. Damon followed, watching her bite into the woman's neck and press her into the wall. She moaned at the first taste of blood again, and Damon's jaw twitched at the sound. He folded his arms across his chest impatiently, and while he waited, his own hunger unfolded inside him as the smell of blood hit him. Unlike Bonnie, however, he could wait a while before he ate.

Watching her, he wasn't sure he could ever completely get used to the sight. Once upon a time, Damon thought Bonnie was untouchable, incorruptible, but she was a far cry from that girl he first met in Mystic Falls all those years ago. Even expression magic Bonnie had nothing on this one. His eyes strayed down the lines of her body before they raised to her face, noticing the way her eyes were closed and the way she looked so lost in drinking blood.

Then his eyes went to the face of the woman, and he saw how pale she was becoming. That was his cue. Damon walked up to Bonnie, tensing as he expected her to fight back against him. "Bon," he called her name. Her eyes flicked over to him and he placed a hand on her shoulder, pulling her off the woman. Slowly, reluctantly, her fangs detached from the woman's neck, and she backed away without a fight. His eyes fell to the blood painting her lips red, watching as her tongue flicked out to lick it away.

She missed a spot. There was a little drop on her chin and without thinking about it, he reached a finger out and wiped the speck of blood off her chin with his thumb. Her eyes trailed after his thumb until he stuck it in his mouth. She licked her lips again and frowned at him. He half expected her to lay into him for what he just did, but she merely turned away in silence.

Bonnie took care of compelling the woman while Damon continued to watch her.

"Aren't you hungry?" Bonnie asked him when the woman was gone.

"I had a blood bag this morning," he told her.

She walked past him, and Damon followed her back to the car. He stared at her back, remembering the tattoo he saw the night before. He had seen only a glimpse of it, but that was enough to make him suspicious. The general shape of it was unmistakably a triquetra, one line forming three interconnected loops with a circle around the center. Witches didn't just get a triquetra tattooed on them for no reason. Especially not one with script outside of it in the spaces between each loop. Damon was standing too far away to see what it said, but he was certain it was probably something in Latin, and whatever it said, that wasn't some tattoo a person just got when they were drunk. She would only be lying about it if it did have some significance to her, but of course, if he asked again, she would probably keep lying. Would the mysteries ever end?

After they were back in the car, Bonnie was on her phone again texting. She had been talking with someone on and off all morning, another mystery, and Damon was curious to know who it was. Who did Bonnie hang around? Who was it that Enzo suspected was involved in her turning? Hell, it could be someone completely unrelated to that. She could be texting her boyfriend for all he knew.

"Texting your boyfriend?" He asked just to bother her.

Her fingers stopped moving, and her head raised to look at him. "Who I'm texting is none of your concern."

"You didn't deny it," he said in a sing-song voice.

"That doesn't mean I'm talking to my boyfriend."

"So you do have one. Who is he? Spill the deets Bon-bon."

"I don't have one, and even if I did, I wouldn't tell you about him."

"If you don't have one, then who are you talking to?"

She glared at him. "Would it kill you to mind your business?"

"Yes it would in fact. I will literally die from emotional distress if you don't tell me."

She blew out a breath, exasperated with him. "I swear to-

"Taking the Lord's name in vain is a sin."

"Damon, I _will_ give you an aneurysm."

"Come on Bon-bon. It's 2023, and you haven't come up with a better threat?"

He thought she wouldn't do it while he was driving her car, but he thought wrong. Pain exploded in the back of his head and he winced. He tried to keep his eyes open and on the road, but the car swerved as his vision blurred from the agony. The pain faded after that, and his vision returned to normal.

"Alright, fine. I'll shut up." They fell into silence, but Damon couldn't help himself. "But just let me ask one thing."

"What?" She bit out.

"When did you and Enzo call it quits?" It was a harmless enough question that he had briefly wondered about.

Her expression twisted from annoyance to muted surprise. She took a second to think about the answer. "Almost four years ago. Why are you asking me about Enzo?"

That was longer than he expected considering the way Enzo still seemed hung up on her. "No reason. Just curious. Did you split because he put your life in danger or...?"

"You said one thing, I'm not about to sit here and rehash the issues between me and Enzo with you of all people."

Damon took note of her defensive tone. "Fair enough." He dropped the subject.

* * *

Thirty minutes later they were walking through the campus. Considering Dr. Ross' studies, it was obvious they should head straight for wherever the biology department was located. They asked a random student where they could find it, and a few minutes later they were standing in front of a building called Hubbard Hall.

Inside the building, they found the offices and spoke to a couple of professors who were in. Bonnie showed them the photo from Dr. Ross' office, but all of them claimed to have no idea who any of the people in the photo were even after being subtly compelled to tell them the truth. The third professor they spoke with sent them to the head of the biology department. He also had no idea who the people in the photo were since he had only been the head for the last two years and was previously at a different university. By the time they walked out of his office, Bonnie was visibly irritated.

"Maybe we should stop being nice." Bonnie suggested.

Damon raised an eyebrow. "Why Bon-bon, are we looking for an excuse to torture someone?"

She gave him a dry look. "No, but what if one of them knew something? What if the compulsion didn't work, and they did know the woman from the photo? They could have been lying and she would know two vampires are searching for her now."

Bonnie did have a point, but it was too late to regret their methods and it would be a waste of time to go back. "We should check the student records. Based on Dr. Ross' file, they were likely all graduate students at the time so there must be some record of them attending the school," Damon suggested.

Bonnie agreed.

They found the administrative office and compelled the person at the front desk to search their computer for graduate students enrolled in the school's biological sciences department in 2013. Just for good measure, Damon also requested the list of graduate students in the chemistry department. They didn't check them earlier, but this whole thing had to do with science and who's to say one of the people in the picture isn't a chemist. From there, they managed to receive a list of people with their school id photos next to their names and programs. They left, then found a bench outside and sat on it while they looked through the photos, trying to find anyone that possibly matched the people in the photograph.

They found Dr. Ross' first to make sure they had the right list. Then they started at the beginning and went through the rest of the names. Damon had A through M, Bonnie had the rest, and they sat the group picture between them for reference. It took them a while to go through every photo, but in the end they found two possible matches. One was one of the men standing next to Dr. Ross, a dark haired man who's name was Jacob Friedlander. On his phone, Damon googled him and found that he was a biochemistry professor at Kansas State, so he was close enough for them to go pay him a visit tomorrow. The second person they found was another one of the men in the photo. His name was Ethan Smith, and he was a researcher and adjunct professor here at Wichita State in the chemistry department, but why did no one recognize him when they showed the photo? He looked exactly the same in his current id photo as he did in the 2013 photograph.

They spent the next hour asking students in both the chemistry and biology buildings whether or not they know who Ethan Smith was, and no one could tell them.

"There's something strange going on here." Damon said as they stopped outside of Hubbard Hall.

Bonnie pulled another random student aside, one who looked a little bit older than the rest. "What year are you?"

"Uh, I'm a graduate student."

"What are you studying?"

"Biochemistry."

"Perfect. So then you would know most of the professors here in both the biology and chemistry departments, wouldn't you?"

"More so in the biological sciences department, but yes," he said slowly. "What is this about?"

Bonnie held up a picture of him. "We're looking for this guy, Ethan Smith. He's supposed to be a professor here. He should teach something related to chemistry."

He took the picture from Bonnie's hand and held it closer to his face. "I've never seen him before. Maybe he's new."

"I doubt that."

"Stay still," Bonnie compelled. Then she put her hands on his head and chanted something in Latin, and when she was done, she sent the man on his way with a dazed look on his face. Once he was far enough away, she turned back towards Damon.

"Yeah. There's a spell affecting his memory."

"Are you saying they've possibly spelled the entire school to forget who they are?"

"Not the entire school, but maybe the whole department and everyone who's ever taken their classes, though that's a little bit unbelievable. A spell like that would have to be massive or have a conduit that everyone would come into contact with, or at least everyone who knew them."

Bonnie looked at the building beside her for a long moment. "Maybe," she went over to the nearby wall and placed her hand on it. Closing her eyes, Damon could feel a sudden surge of magic in the air from whatever Bonnie was doing. Then her hands began to glow an orange color before she removed them from the brick.

"It's the building. The whole building has a spell on it."

"If they spelled an entire building and destroyed any administrative record of them being at this university, why was this Ethan guy, Dr. Ross, and Friedlander left then?"

Bonnie shrugged. "I'm not sure. Maybe they weren't directly a part of what the others were doing? Anyway, if he's actually still a professor here and the spell works how I think it works, I'm not sure how we're going to find him unless we stake out the building, and even then…"

Damon shook his head. "That's going to take too long. Let's just go after Friedlander tomorrow. If that doesn't work out, then we'll look for Ethan." The sky was already becoming pink with the hues of sunset. "Come on. It's been almost another three hours since you've fed, and you're probably hungry by now so let's get some food and find a place to stay for the night."

It looked as if she was about to protest, but nothing came out of her mouth.

They went to find a hotel first and ended up staying at the local Holiday Inn. Bonnie paid for it, of course, and Damon made her get a room with two beds because he still wasn't sure he could trust her not to go off and bite someone on her own, and she must not fully trust herself because she agreed to do so without a fuss.

They went up to the room, Bonnie with her duffel bag of clothes in tow and Damon with nothing but the clothes on his back. She put her things down, and then they left to go find her someone to munch on.

Damon wanted a drink, so he suggested they go to a bar down the block. After a short walk in silence, they walked into the bar. Being near the university, it was filled with college students. Shouting and cheering could be heard as most of the people there were engrossed in some basketball game on one of the TVs.

Damon watched Bonnie's eyes scan the crowd, her tongue darting out to lick her lips as she did so. She didn't go for anyone yet, but immediately she went to the corner of the bar and Damon went with her.

The two stools at the end were empty, and when they sat down, the bartender came over and they both ordered bourbon. Bonnie drank about half her glass before she put it down on the counter and let her eyes wander around the room. When she drank, he could almost visibly see the lines of her face relax with the ingestion of alcohol, and Damon wondered if her choice of drink was his past influence on her.

"Hi," he heard a voice from behind him. Damon turned around and was met with the face of a pretty brunette. "You're new around here, aren't you?"

He debated in his head for a second on whether or not to indulge her in conversation or send her off. "Sorry, not interested."

She pouted at him before she turned around and left. When she was gone, he took another sip of his drink. A moment later, Damon noticed a guy headed towards Bonnie. He was obviously a college student, tall and lean with a young face. Bonnie tensed at his approach, and turned to face him as he leaned against the counter beside her with a wide smile.

"Hey," he said. "Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?"

Damon wasn't looking at Bonnie, but he could imagine her rolling her eyes at him. "How original."

"I got you to smile though, didn't I?"

Damon's head whipped around at that and sure enough, he could see the corner of her lips turned up in a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Despite that, it was the first smile he's seen since she'd woke him up. Damon found himself scowling. How is it that a cheesy, over-used pick-up line could make her smile?

The guy noticed him staring and had the nerve to look almost smug. "I think I've made your boyfriend angry," he said lowly, thinking Damon wouldn't hear him.

Bonnie looked over at Damon. Whatever smile she had fell from her face. "He's not anything to me, so don't worry about him."

"Oh? Then I'm Ian." He held out his hand, and after a moment's hesitation, she shook it.

"Nice to meet you Ian." While his hand was in hers, she slipped off the stool to close the distance between them and bring his ear closer to her lips. "How about we skip the small talk and I'll give you what you really want from me."

His voice lowered, and his smile widened into a grin. "And what's that?"

A coy smile made it's way to her face as Bonnie downed the rest of her drink, then grabbed the guy's hand. "Come on," she looked back, catching Damon's eye as she dragged the guy out of the bar. He knew what that look meant. This was her mark, and she was planning to feed on him, which meant he was on babysitting duty.

Damon waited a moment, then drank the rest of his drink before he threw some money on the bar and followed them.

When he got outside, he expected to find Bonnie biting him. Instead, she was kissing him. His stomach curled in irritation as he watched her lips glide over his and witnessed her tongue slipping into his mouth. His hands slid down from her waist over her ass, and he pulled her tight against him. When she let him up for air, Bonnie finally compelled him to stay still for her and sank her teeth into his neck. She moaned like usual, and he winced at the pain but did nothing to stop her. His hands were still gripping her ass, and Bonnie was practically melded to him with one arm wrapped around the shoulder she wasn't biting, their bodies connected from chest to thigh. Damon glowered at them. It was bad enough that he had to manage her feeding, now he had to watch her make-out with some random guy too.

When she was verging on too much, Damon approached and pulled her back. Keeping her feeding to about every three or so hours seemed to be working because she didn't fight back again. Damon glared at her to which she only raised an eyebrow. Turning away from him, she took care of the guy and sent him on his way before turning back to him. They stared at one another for a moment before Damon broke the silence.

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

Alright, so she wanted to play dumb. "If I have to babysit you while you eat, try to keep it PG."

"Oh please, don't pretend like you haven't done the same in front of me. And don't give me some spiel about how that was different. You don't have a right to be mad."

Damon blinked. She was right. He didn't have a right to be mad, and he wasn't mad necessarily, but he was annoyed. Watching her, something had folded over uncomfortably in the pit of his stomach and it was still there, lingering when he knew it was irrational.

"You should be grateful that I didn't decide to do more than just kiss him."

The stabbing feeling in his gut twisted at her nonchalant response, and his eyes narrowed. "Do more? Are you suggesting that you would've fucked him in the middle of this alleyway?" She had to be screwing with him.

She shrugged, a defiant look on her face paired with the ghost of a smirk. "And if I was?"

Was she possessed? She had to be possessed unless she was messing with him, unless she was trying to get under his skin. But that was his game, not hers. Closing the distance between them, he expected her to step back, but she merely looked up at him, seemingly unperturbed by his invasion of her personal space. He glared down at her, annoyance reaching a boiling point, but a thin smile spread across his face anyway. "If you want to have some extra fun with whoever you bite, then let me know so I can leave you to it. We should place bets before though to see if you have enough control to leave them alive."

His grin widened ever so slightly at the barely noticeable downturn of the corners of her mouth. Damon started to back away from Bonnie, but the moment he did, a wooden stake went flying through the air and grazed Bonnie's shoulder.

Bonnie immediately pushed Damon out of the way. Thrusting her hand out, she telekinetically pinned their assailant against the wall then used the stake that was shot at her to stab him in the neck, killing him instantly. Another one refilled his crossbow and tried to shoot Damon, but he caught the stake before it could land. Damon was on him in an instant. "You picked the wrong vampires to mess with today buddy." He made to snap his neck.

"Wait," Bonnie called out, walking up to him. Damon sighed at the interruption and changed his hold on the guy so that he held both of his hands behind his back in a vice grip. "Are you a part of a larger group or was it just you two working together?"

When he didn't answer, Bonnie pulled one of his arms from Damon's grip and turned his palm over in his hand, examining the back of his wrist. Whatever she was looking for wasn't there. "How did you find us?" Bonnie stepped away, letting Damon readjust his grip. Their assailant looked determined to stay silent. "Tell me and I might let you go, or we could try the hard way."

He stared defiantly at her.

"Alright." Bonnie looked almost pleased that he didn't speak before she walked up to him and placed her hand on his forehead. Closing her eyes, she whispered something over and over again, and he screamed. Damon covered his mouth with his hand to muffle those screams because they were loud and even though they were in a deserted alleyway, they were still outside on the street in the middle of a city and someone might be able to hear them.

Bonnie let go after about twenty seconds and the man was sweating in his arms with his eyes wide open. Damon had no idea what she'd just done to him, but whatever it was broke him. "We-we just happened to be passing by. We saw you two and knew he was a vampire. We thought he was going to attack you. We didn't know that you were..." He frowned. "What are you exactly? You can do spells, but you move like a vampire."

She ignored his question. "How did you know he was a vampire?"

"Hunter's instinct."

Bonnie perked at that. "Who gave it to you?"

"It was a witch."

"What did this witch look like?"

"Her hair was a dark brown and she had tanned skin. She wore a hood most of the time"

"Are you lying?" She stretched her hand out towards him, and he jerked his head back.

"No. Please don't do that again, just let me go. I-I promise I'll stop hunting vampires."

"Why you? Did you seek them out."

"No. They found us, explained to us what they were, then lifted whatever compulsions had been placed on us, and we both discovered we had been attacked by vampires once. Do you know what that feels like, to suddenly know you were attacked and had your memory of it taken away? When she offered to show us how to become hunters, of course we agreed, so she and another man showed us how."

"This other man, who was he?"

"I don't know. He covered the bottom half of his face and also wore a hood. He never told us his name."

Bonnie searched his gaze for a long minute. "Alright. I believe you."

He relaxed in Damon's grip, and Bonnie's eyes met his over the hunter's shoulder. He could've sworn she was about to tell him to let the guy go, but she did the opposite. Simply flicking her palm to the side, she snapped his neck herself. Damon let his body fall to the floor.

He stared at Bonnie. "You really don't take any chances anymore, do you Elphaba?"

She looked annoyed at the nickname. "Hunters are like cockroaches nowadays. I learned the hard way that it's best to just kill them. Jay wasn't kidding when he said that there was a hunter problem."

"What was the hunter's instinct thing he mentioned?"

"It's a spell that's something like the hunter's mark, but it's far more rudimentary in that it only gives normal people the ability to sense vampires in the way an extra sensitive witch would be able to as well as the urge to kill them."

"What were you looking for on his forearm?"

"A mark that indicates he's part of a larger known group of hunters who call themselves the venators."

"You seem to know a lot about this."

"That would be because I've run into them before. They're not a joke and even I have trouble-"

Bonnie's phone rang, interrupting her. Damon saw it was Alaric calling right before she answered it. "Hey Ric."

"I got all the stuff you sent, and I just want to remind you that what you've sent me is the kind of research that would appear in a scientific journal if there was one on the biology of supernaturals. I frankly don't have the time to look up half the stuff she mentions being a working single father and all, but I did find the mention of another person you might want to look into. I don't have a last name, but there's a note on her research about some protein she found that says see Morgan's new research. Could be either a first or last name, but I figure it might be useful. I'll keep looking though."

"Thanks. Let me know if you hear from Caroline?"

"You'll be the first one I call. To be honest, I'm actually starting to get a little worried now because she should've called to check in on the twins by now."

"I'm sure she and Stefan are fine," Bonnie said.

"Yeah, they're probably just somewhere without cell phone service or something, but I'm trying not to think the worst."

"If it makes you feel any better, I can do a locator spell, just to make sure she's alright."

"That would make me feel better actually."

She looked over at the dead hunters. "We're a little preoccupied right now, so I'll let you know whether or not I can find her in a few hours."

"Alright, Bonnie. Thanks."

Damon held his hand, motioning for her to give him the phone. "Hold on, Damon wants to talk to you."

Once she handed him the phone, he moved far enough away from Bonnie so that she wouldn't be able to hear him. "What do you want?" Alaric asked in a rather clipped tone.

"What happened to Bonnie?"

"I don't know, Damon. Why don't you ask her?" His sarcasm was not appreciated.

"You think I haven't tried. She's still pissed at me."

"Rightfully so. I would be too if I was her. I mean imagine one of your best friends just up and leaving with only a shitty letter as a goodbye." Okay message received. Alaric was not happy with him either.

"Look, I'm sorry alright, but have you even seen her lately? She's-," Damon paused, deciding against telling Alaric about her being a vampire. "She's different, and not in a good way. Her behavior is very un-Bonnie-like."

He sighed. "You're asking the wrong person. Besides vague details of what she went through the first couple of years after you desiccated, I have no idea what Bonnie's been up to. I mean I've heard things from Caroline, but even she doesn't hear from Bonnie that much anymore. They're not as close as they used to be."

"What have you heard?"

Alaric grew silent. "If she wants you to know, she'll tell you."

Great. Both Enzo and Alaric were useless when it came to information on Bonnie. " _Dad, Lizzie won't share!_ " Damon heard one of the twins yell. "Sorry, I've gotta go, Damon." He hung up, leaving Damon frustrated. Why wouldn't anyone tell him anything?

Damon returned to the alley where Bonnie stood leaning against the building, waiting for him. There was a noticeable lack of any dead bodies. "What did you do with the bodies?" He asked as he handed her phone to him.

"I disposed of them."

Damon didn't bother to ask how. "Then let's head back. I want to get an early start tomorrow."

* * *

 **A/N: Eh. I'm not sure about this one, but thanks for reading!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

" _You're wrong. He doesn't mean anything to me anymore, and he didn't mean as much as you seem to think he meant to me."_

 _She shot her a dry look. "Bonnie, do we have to talk about 1994 too? Oh, and let's not forget Europe."_

* * *

Damon left her in the hotel room alone. All he said was that he would be back in thirty minutes and then he was gone. He said nothing about where he was going or what he was going to do, but Bonnie could guess. After running around the university, he was probably hungry, so she imagined he was out grabbing a bite to eat by himself. Her own blood lust flared at the thought, and she was tempted to go find herself snack, but she had eaten not so long ago, and she was full enough to have the sense not to leave the confines of the room.

Around the time Damon said he would be back, Bonnie laid stretched out across her bed on her stomach, already showered and in her pajamas. They were the same as what she wore yesterday, shorts and a t-shirt. With her elbows propped up her shoulders, she was on her phone texting again. It helped having someone to talk to that wasn't Damon. In fact, sometimes she thought it was the only thing keeping her sane.

A few minutes later, Damon walked through the door with no preamble. Bonnie hadn't even heard his footsteps outside the door. She turned over her shoulder to look at him, finding his eyes on her ass for a half a second before he took off his jacket and threw it on his bed. She followed where his gaze had gone, finding her shorts had ridden up a little, but not that much. Looking back at him, she caught his eyes wandering over her backside again. "Take a picture, Damon, it'll last longer."

Their eyes met, and Damon smirked. "Good idea."

To her chagrin, he actually pulled out his phone. She turned to fully glare at him, focusing on the phone in his hand as she flicked her palm to the side, knocking it to the floor. "You're such a child."

"Don't blame me for doing what you suggested." He picked his phone up, and threw it on top of his jacket laying on the bed. "I'll be in the shower." He disappeared into the bathroom where she soon heard the shower water running.

That wasn't the first time Bonnie saw him staring at her in ways he shouldn't be. Perhaps he thought he was being discreet when he looked at her, but Bonnie noticed the way his eyes sometimes wandered in her direction. Usually, they roamed over her like she was a puzzle to be figured out, but occasionally he would get another almost indecipherable look in his eyes. Bonnie knew what that look meant, knew what his shallow brain was thinking. Him looking at her like that was nothing new.

There was no counting the number of times Bonnie caught him openly watching her with that look, especially when they were in Europe. Back then, he didn't remotely try to be discreet and openly stared only to break the building tension between them by making some teasing remark to get under her skin. Bonnie never thought too much of it. Those moments always had a playful intensity to them where they both knew nothing would come of it. It was just Damon messing with her to get a reaction. Knowing that, Bonnie always brushed off his meaningless flirtations. But she would be lying if she said she never asked herself what if. What if she hadn't dismissed him, what if she had given in during those few moments where meaningless flirtation didn't quite seem so meaningless? Would he have left her then if there was a possibility of—?

No. Bonnie shook her head. This line of thinking was a slippery slope for her, a slope she had allowed herself to tumble down a few times in his absence, and thinking about them like that had always left her feeling strangely muddled. There was a level intimacy between them after everything that happened, but their relationship always stayed within the realm of friendship. It wasn't even as if she had ever desired for them to be more, but somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that if she took one step in that direction, she would find herself drowning with no way out, so the logical part of her brain prevented her from ever seriously considering that path.

And besides, Damon had Elena. There was no way he would ever actually act on whatever mild interest he had in her, so the possibility of Bonnie and Damon as more than friends did not exist.

Unfortunately, that didn't change the fact that there had always been some kind of attraction between them, something riding under the surface that she refused to recognize, and a pull that, after 1994, had strengthened to a point where not being around him left an emptiness inside her. Especially, when she first came back, she had near constant urges to seek him out, and it took her a while to get over them. She had thought that pull was gone, but perhaps it was still there. Maybe it was possible that she felt that pull even now, that even after he desiccated, she had continued to feel it, and that was why his leaving had hurt her so much for so long, and why she was still harboring so much anger towards him.

The door to the bathroom opened and Damon walked out with a towel wrapped around his waist. He sat across Bonnie, running another towel over his wet hair. "Did you check on Caroline yet?"

"I did." Earlier while Damon was out, Bonnie had used the same spell she used to locate Elena to find Caroline. Only with Caroline, when she drew on their connection to locate her, she was able to get a clear image of where she was and had been able to see that she was still with Stefan, and they were still very much enjoying traveling traveling through Europe though she couldn't tell where exactly they were.

"And?"

"They're fine. Both still together somewhere in Europe. The only explanation I have for why they haven't been answering is that they don't have their phones for some reason."

Damon laid back on his bed, letting out a long sigh. "Do you think Stefan's also still mad at me?" He asked out of the blue.

"Probably."

"How mad exactly? On a scale from one to Bonnie?"

Bonnie shrugged. "A seven, but Stefan's always been more forgiving towards you than me even when you don't deserve it."

He mulled over that for a minute before he glanced over at her out of the corner of his eye. "Hypothetically speaking, if you were in my position, what would you do to earn his forgiveness."

"That's the difference between you and me Damon. I would never be in your position because I don't abandon the people I care about when they need me."

"You say that, but sometimes you care too much to the point where you've willingly sacrificed your life and desires for people, including me."

"I know that. Me still caring about Elena is why I'm here tolerating you while we search for her, but I've learned from my past mistakes and know that if I'm required to sacrifice myself for her or anyone else, it's not happening. I won't die for anyone again."

His gaze turned pensive. "Is that how you became a vampire? Did you die for someone?"

"I…," She trailed off, not wanting to answer him because Bonnie wasn't too keen on explaining the circumstances of her death., but her hesitation was already answer enough.

He hummed disapprovingly. "I suppose it's too much to ask who the lucky person was."

She remained silent, and he closed his eyes, lost in thought. He was still, and if Bonnie didn't know any better, she would think he was already asleep.

Her eyes roamed the length of his body, falling on the way his towel had opened where one of his legs was bent on the bed. She could see more of his pale legs than she would like and if she decided to get up and go to the bathroom, there was a one hundred percent chance she would catch a glimpse of his penis. Even though it wasn't anything she hadn't seen before, she wished he would put on some clothes.

When her eyes returned to his face, she found him watching her stare at him. If she had been younger, she might've been embarrassed to be caught staring. "Are you going to put on some clothes?" She asked him.

A slight smirk arose on his face. "Why? You've seen me in my birthday suit before."

"Doesn't mean I want to see it again."

"That's too bad," he said, looking down at his crotch. "I think someone wanted to say hi."

Disgust overtook her features. "I'm two seconds away from getting my own room."

He scoffed at her. "Oh come on Bonnie. Lighten up. Turnabout is fair play with that little stint you pulled back there."

"Are you still mad about that?" She hadn't planned on kissing the guy, but when he went in for it, she let herself have a little fun. The blood lust was messing with her hormones, and the thought of slipping away to have sex with him did cross her mind, but Bonnie still had enough clarity to realize how bad of an idea that was especially after Damon appeared.

She had seen the way he watched them, the irritated look on his face at the sight of her kissing him, and Bonnie said what she said afterwards only to mess with him. There was no way she would let some random guy screw her in the middle of an alleyway though it wouldn't have been the first time she'd been a little adventurous in a public area. After going back to college, she had gone through a bit of a wild phase, but that had been over for a long time.

She couldn't resist taunting Damon to try and ruffle his feathers though, and it must have worked better than she intended if he was still upset about it.

"I'm not mad." He said.

"Why are we still talking about it then? You aren't jealous are you?"

There was a long silence before he answered her. "Did you want me to be jealous?"

She looked away form him, considering what he was insinuating by that question. "I don't want you to be anything but out of my life."

She heard him lean back onto a pillow and leisurely put his hands behind his head. "I'm sorry to break it to you, but you're stuck with me, whether you like it or not Bon-bon."

"I won't be once you take the cure from Elena."

He turned back towards her, pensive look back on his face. "You know, you could take the cure too."

She shrugged. "I could, but we don't really know if it works the way it should. We don't know how many times the cure can pass through someone's body and take effect." To be honest, she hadn't given too much thought to taking the cure herself. Certainly, it had crossed her mind that Elena's blood was the cure and she could drink it in order to cure herself, but when she first went to the warehouse in Brooklyn, she assumed she would find the two already awake and gone. Damon would have taken the cure from Elena and Bonnie wouldn't be able to take it from him without the fear of him aging 183 years to his death. She hadn't expected to find a situation with the possibility that she might be able to reverse her vampirism.

But did she want to be cured? Shortly after she had first turned, there would have been no doubt, and even now she instinctively wanted say yes. Yet if it was offered to her right here and now, she knew she would hesitate. Before all this, she was dong fine as a vampire and was starting to get used to the idea of living forever. The things she wanted as a human, she wasn't even sure she wanted anymore, and outside of blood, Bonnie liked the perks that came with being a vampire, liked how it felt to be almost invincible after dying so many times. Going back to being a witch meant she would be weaker, and she currently needed whatever advantages she had as a heretic.

"When we get her, you're taking it first."

She thought to tell him that she didn't want the cure, but the words wouldn't come out. Instead, she asked him another question. "And what if it doesn't work when you take it from me? You'll be stuck as a vampire and eventually outlive the only person you care about."

"I'd be willing to take that chance."

 _Liar._ Anger sparked in her at his words, and at first she wasn't sure why. But as she considered it, she realized it was the notion that he was willing to sacrifice his future for her sake. Bonnie couldn't bring herself to believe him. Reflexively, she had taken his words with a grain of salt. Damon was selfish at his core, and he had proven time and time again that part of him would never change. "I don't believe you."

His blue eyes held her green ones for another long moment before he closed his eyes. "Believe what you want. I'm going to sleep." He turned off the lights, leaving the both of them in the dark.

Damon seemed to fall asleep in moments, but for fear of her nightmares, Bonnie tried her hardest to stay awake. However, even with the help of her phone, she only lasted about two hours before sleep claimed her too.

 _The forest before her was thick with tall elm trees that towered over her. She ran, weaving in between them while periodically looking back over her shoulder._

 _She could feel the earth rumble below her feet, and somehow, she knew their ancestors were angry with her for what she'd just done, but what those people were doing, what they had done was even worse. Bonnie had to escape, and she had to stop them at any cost._

 _That didn't mean it didn't hurt._

 _She kept running, tears streaming down her face. "I'm sorry," she mumbled through labored breaths. "I'm sorry."_

 _A root seemed to grasp at her ankle, and she tripped and fell, falling face-first into the dirt. She pushed herself onto her knees and when she looked up again, they were staring back at her with nothingness in their eyes. Frozen, they began to close in on her, surrounding her until all she could see was their faces. One of them reached out, a pair of hands closed around her throat, and she opened her mouth to scream. Suffocating under the pressure of their palms, her eyes closed in anticipation of her death, but when she opened them, the pressure was gone, and Damon was beside her._

 _They were sitting on the sofa in the boarding house and she was pressed into his side. A movie was playing on the TV in front of them._

" _Bad dream?" She didn't realize how tense she was until he moved his arm from across the back of the couch behind her and brushed his fingers along her shoulder. Relaxing, she sat up a bit so her head no longer rested on his chest._

" _Yeah." Bonnie frowned. She had a feeling it was bad, but whatever happened in it had already faded from memory._

" _It couldn't be worse than being trapped here with me."_

 _She looked up at him. "There are worse people I could be trapped here with. I mean imagine if it was me and Klaus stuck together."_

" _You would go insane."_

 _She nodded. "Without a doubt you're the lesser evil."_

 _He tilted his head to the side. "Should I take that a compliment?"_

" _Take it however you want it." The way his head turned in her direction made their faces inches apart. "We both know you like to play at being the bad guy."_

 _He looked mildly offended by her comment. "I don't play at being bad."_

 _She scoffed. "Right."_

 _He leaned back from her, then shifted to grab his empty glass off the table. He looked over at her glass. "You want anything?"_

 _She grabbed her glass and passed to him. "I'll have whatever you're having."_

 _He smiled at that before standing up and moving toward the liquor shelf. "Admit it though, Bonnie. You like me at least a little." He poured their drinks while she stretched her hands above her head on the sofa._

" _I don't like you," she let her hands fall into her lap and stood up, following him. When she was close enough, he handed her the glass of bourbon, and she took a sip, relishing in the burn of the alcohol going through her chest. Yeah. Hanging around Damon was turning her into an alcoholic. "I tolerate you. There's a difference."_

" _Why is it so hard for you to admit that you still care about me?"_

 _She avoided his gaze. "I don't."_

" _Oh please, Bonnie." He grabbed her arm, pulling her to face him. Something about him had changed, but she couldn't put her finger on it. "I know you." They stood entirely too close together._

" _You don't know anything. You weren't there when I needed you."_

" _How many times do I have to say sorry?"_

" _As many times as I need."_

" _Fine," he stepped closer to her, their bodies touching. Damon brought a hand to her cheek, wiping a tear she didn't even know was there. "I'm sorry."_

 _Glass forgotten on the counter beside her, Bonnie's hands pressed into his chest, trying to push him away, but Damon refused to budge. She relented, still halfheartedly pushing. "I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive you."_

" _I know." His hands encircled her waist, pulling her into him._

 _Bonnie tensed for a moment, then returned his embrace. Her hands gripped at the fabric of his shoulders while her head rested on his chest. They stayed like that. "I missed you," Bonnie confessed. "I…" She stopped, not even sure what she was going to tell him._

" _I'm here now." His voice echoed in her head._

Bonnie woke up staring at the ceiling. As the dream came back to her, she sighed and put her hands over her eyes as she willed herself to forget it. She sat up, shaking her head and looked over to find Damon's bed already empty again.

Not bothering to wonder where he was, she swung her legs across the bed and stood up, stretching her arms over her head. Already she could feel her stomach twisting with hunger but she tried her best to ignore it and went to the bathroom to wash up and change. When she came out, Damon had returned. He was sitting on the only chair in the room, looking completely unbothered. It was annoying how effortlessly he seemed to look perfect. "Are you ready?" He asked her.

"Yeah."

"Let's go find you some breakfast then."

* * *

It was around nine o'clock when they made it to Kansas University, and it didn't take them long to find where Jacob Friedlander was. As soon as they found the chemistry building, they overhead two students discussing about how they had his class next, so Bonnie and Damon discreetly followed them to a lecture hall. Since the class was just beginning, they both decided to wait until the class was done before they approached him.

Damon took a seat on a bench outside and sat on it while Bonnie leaned against the wall on the opposite side. A minute later, some random guy walking by approached her. "Hey, do you know where room 1107 is?"

Bonnie shrugged. "Sorry, no idea."

He lingered, staring. "You have really pretty eyes."

She raised her eyebrows, actually looking at him now. "Thanks." He was cute enough that she was tempted to lure him into a corner and bite him, but sadly she had eaten before they got on campus.

"Are you taking summer classes too?"

"No. I'm actually waiting on a friend."

"Oh, well maybe I'll see you around." He started to walk away.

"Maybe."

After he disappeared around a corner, Damon spoke. "They just fall at your feet these days, don't they?" There was disdain in his voice, and Bonnie wasn't quite sure how to take it.

"You don't think I'm attractive enough to have men approach me?"

His eyes raked over her. "You know I think the opposite, and I've told you as much before. Or have you forgotten?"

She remembered. He had called her beautiful before, once on a night in France when they were getting ready to go out to a club. Damon couldn't stop staring at her then.

" _How do I look?" She asked him with a coy smile._

" _Beautiful." His fingers reached up to brush a loose strand of hair behind her ear in a manner that was too intimate for two people who were supposed to be friends. The unexpectedly direct answer had thrown her for a loop, and she turned away from him almost shyly..._

Bonnie put a lid over that memory.

No. She hadn't forgotten, but that was over eight years ago, and this was now. Since they started this search, she hadn't paid any particular attention to her appearance, which was why she was surprised so many men were expressing interest in her. Sighing, she suddenly missed home.

Damon was still staring at her. "Not much has changed besides your hair," he said.

"What has?" The question was out her mouth before she could stop herself. She was too curious to know what differences he saw between now and then.

His eyes fell to her hips. "It's subtle, but the shape of your body is more...toned. You've obviously put on some muscle. Aside from that, your waist looks a little smaller, and so do your arms. The only sign that you've aged is the beginnings of crow's feet at the edge of your eyes. For a woman who's supposed to be thirty-years-old, you don't look a day over twenty-one."

"Well technically, I'll be twenty-nine forever."

"So you were turned before your birthday," he noted.

"A few days before."

Damon fell silent for a while. "Whoever it is you died for, they don't deserve you."

"You're right, but I... care for them, and without them, I would've been dead a few times over."

"Is this person a vampire?"

"Yes, why?"

"I'm curious to know whether they were they the one's who convinced you to let yourself turn?"

"No one convinced me. That was my decision alone."

Damon became quiet again, but he stared at her curiously. "Then do you even want to be cured?"

Bonnie shrugged. "I don't know." Even after the debacle she'd gotten herself into with the rings, she wasn't sure she wanted to go back to being a human.

His brows furrowed. "You want to live for eternity?" He didn't hide the disbelief in his voice.

"I don't know, Damon."

When the class finally let out, Bonnie and Damon waited until the final student left before they entered the classroom. Friedlander was putting some papers in his bag when he looked up and noticed them.

"Can I help you with something?"

"Yes," Bonnie pulled out the photograph from Dr. Ross' office. "This is you, isn't it?" She pointed to him in the photo.

He leaned forward, taking a closer look. A frown steadily spread across his face. "Who are you? Where did you get that photo?"

"Irrelevant questions." She moved her finger across the photo, tapping the area where the woman they were searching for stood. "Just tell me if you know this woman and where we can find her."

"And if I refuse."

Damon stepped in. "I'm sure you've probably figured it out by now, but I'm a vampire and she's…well—"

Bonnie cut him off. "A witch."

"And neither of us is opposed to simply ending your life once we've tortured whatever information you have out of you."

He said nothing for a moment. "Lucky for you, I'm just a plain old human who doesn't want any trouble, but the woman you're looking for is not someone to be messed with."

"Who is she?"

"Her name is Morgan Blackwater, and I'm assuming you're looking for her because you know what she's been researching."

At last they had her full name. "Where is she?"

"I haven't been a part of the project for the last eight years, but the lab we used to work out of is in a nearby town just outside the city. I doubt she's still there, but here," he pulled out a piece of paper and started writing an address on it. "You can go take a look and see if you can find anything. Fair warning though, wherever she is, if you're looking for her, it's very possible that she might already know you're coming."

"How?"

"She's clairvoyant, can see bits and pieces of the future though she didn't always know what they meant."

"Noted," Damon said.

Bonnie asked another question. "Why did you quit working with her?"

"Aside from how insane she was about her research, I wasn't too keen on her methods. I was there because I wanted to help my brother. He was a witch who had been turned into a vampire, but he was killed by a hunter some years ago. After losing him, I lost motivation, and the idea of torturing people, vampire or not, didn't sit well with me. When I voiced how I disagreed with her methods, she basically kicked me out."

"What about Ethan?" Damon asked.

"Ethan? He also wasn't too happy with the way things were being done, but Ethan left the project before I did."

"Where is he?"

"I don't know. Probably still working at Wichita, but I haven't spoken to him for years."

"Speaking of Wichita, why was the biology building spelled?" Bonnie asked.

"So you noticed that," he paused. "In the beginning, we used to use a portion of the basement as a lab area, and there was an incident there where a few vampires we were experimenting on escaped. People saw, and the lab was discovered, so Morgan and the others decided to create the spell that would make anyone who stepped inside the building and knew us forget about our existence unless they were inside the building at the same time we were. We packed up and moved to the address I gave you, all of us quitting our jobs as teachers there except for Ethan who continued to work around the spell once he figured out that the students could still remember their assignments and what they learned despite not questioning the fact that they don't know who their teacher is," he paused again. "I suppose it goes to show how absolute the spell was if they didn't even think to question that.

"Anyway, both I and one of the others didn't want to quit teaching forever, so she moved her research to Chicago, and I moved here." He was obviously speaking of Dr. Ross.

Bonnie and Damon shared a look. "Thank you for your time, professor." Bonnie held up the piece of paper, he handed to her. "And thanks for this."

As soon as they were out in the hall, Bonnie handed the address to Damon who was driving. "He was rather forthcoming," Damon commented.

"And yet, I don't think he lied about anything."

The address led to an old warehouse on the outskirts of the city, just as Friedlander had said. Bonnie pulled open the door ahead of Damon and walked inside. The space was large and open with support columns scattered across the room. There were counters and cabinets lining the wall opposite where they stood.

"I'll start on this side and you start on the other. Let me know if you can find something that might be a personal belonging that someone left behind."

They spent around an hour searching the area after which Damon found a door that led to a lower floor which was filled with cages that were probably where they held the vampires when they weren't being experimented on. Damon didn't linger there for longer than a few minutes, choosing instead to go back upstairs and search one last time in case they missed something.

Bonnie searched for a while, but ultimately found nothing of any worth. She headed back upstairs. "Hey, this place is basically empty," Bonnie said after she opened the door.

Damon was standing in front of one of the columns, and opened his mouth to say something when the entrance door opened and three hunters rushed in.

They immediately started firing guns with presumably wooden bullets at them, and they both immediately ducked behind columns. Bonnie stuck her head out to confirm their positions, and one of them shot a bullet in her direction that narrowly missed her face.

"You two have wandered into the wrong area," one of them said.

They went silent, and Bonnie could hear them start to move while reloading. One was headed in her direction, and the other two headed for Damon. Times like these she wished she still carried around her hunting gun.

She looked to Damon and he nodded his head. They both went on the attack at the same time, Bonnie quickly knocking the gun out of her attacker's hand with a flick of her palm. He pulled out a stake and in one smoothly executed move, she dodged his attempt to stab her while snatching the stake from his grasp and stabbing him through his back while he stumbled forward.

With vampire speed, she rushed Damon's attackers, both of whom were too focused on him to notice her approach. She grasped one from behind, and Damon ripped out the other one's heart before doing the same to the one Bonnie had in a chokehold.

She dropped the now dead body in her arms. Damon dropped their hearts onto the floor while Bonnie bent down and searched one of the guys. Turning his hand over to look at his wrist, she saw what she was looking for, the symbol of the hunter group called the Venators. The symbol in question was a pentagram, the same pentagram that Jeremy used to have on his shoulder as a part of the real hunter's mark. This was how they inducted people into their little group and gave them the power to sense whenever a vampire was nearby.

Bonnie let his wrist go and stood up. Eyeing one of the guns beside another of the fallen hunters, Bonnie picked it up and checked how many bullets were left before searching the guys again for more magazines. She managed to find two which she shoved into her back pocket. The gun was tucked into the waistband of her pants.

Damon had been watching her with his head tilted curiously. "Since when can you handle a gun?"

"I was a huntress, remember."

"But who taught you?"

"No one. Back when the huntress' last life was first transferred into my body, it taught me not only how to completely hate vampires, but how to kill them as well. It gave me experience, made me capable of using any weapon to kill a vampire, and even when the spell was broken, I didn't forget how to use one. Anyway, I would rather not have to use magic to kill in situations where it would be easier to just put a bullet in their head, and it's better to have any means possible to kill our enemies."

Bonnie looked over at the bodies again. "Do you think this Friedlander intentionally led us into a trap?"

"How about we pay him another visit and find out?" Damon suggested.

"Fine, but first I need something to eat."

They left the old warehouse building and headed a little ways back into the city area. Damon found a street to park the car on and they got out. Like usual, Bonnie wasn't picky. She went after one of the first people she saw, and that person happened to be a dark-haired man with a full beard who was a little overweight.

Bonnie pulled him into the shadow of a nearby building, compelled him, and began to feed under Damon's watch. After fighting earlier, the hunger was strong and pulsing underneath her skin. Her fangs dug deep into his shoulder as she sucked the blood from him.

Eyes closing, feeding became her singular focus. She lost awareness of surroundings and all she could feel was the pleasure and fullness that came from feeding on the thick hot blood of a living human being. She was so unaware of her surroundings, that she was caught off guard when, with no warning, Damon pulled her off her prey and sped her around to the to the other side of the building. A snarling expression formed on her face, and Bonnie started to ask him what the hell was going on, but when she opened her mouth, his hand covered it and he shushed her sharply, trying to listen for something.

Bonnie stood with her back pressed against his front, and his hand still over her mouth. She scowled. Her fangs were still out, she was still hungry, and she was pissed that she had been interrupted. With only the intention of getting him to remove his hand from her mouth, she shifted her head, then bit into his palm.

His blood landed on her tongue, and Bonnie wasn't expecting the taste. It was bitter, not as deliciously sweet as human blood or even the blood from blood bags, but it wasn't bad. Without thinking about it, her tongue lapped at the blood. It reminded her of coffee, but at the same time the taste was entirely different. It was faint, but somehow she could taste the magic in his blood like an extra shot of espresso. Her teeth sank further into his hand, tongue chasing that taste.

Damon leaned forward, letting his head brush against hers. "Bonnie," he whispered into her ear, trying to get her attention.

She ignored him, letting her weight sink into him as she drank from his palm, and he held her there against him, letting her drink for a moment longer.

"Bonnie, we have company."

Her eyes fluttered open. "Take care of him and check around the corner," she heard someone saying. "They may still be in the area."

"Let's get out of here."

"No," Bonnie stepped away from Damon, palming the gun she took off of one of the dead bodies in the warehouse. We get rid of them."

"There has to be at least five."

"Fine, you go around the left side, and I'll-

The sound of fighting made her pause. Both she and Damon listened as someone took out whoever was after them. Before they could wonder who, they appeared, one by one out of the darkness surrounding them. She stood beside Damon, taking in the shadowed faces. Bonnie counted seven total.

She tensed up as one of them stepped forward into the light, her mind already going through her options. She might manage to kill two of them with the gun before they were on her, so that was out, but there was a spell she knew. It might completely drain her magic, but it would kill all seven of them in an instant. She kept that spell in mind as the vampire who stepped forward began to speak. "This is our territory," he said with a country drawl, "and we don't take too kindly to visitors these days. You have three seconds to give us a reason why we shouldn't kill you."

* * *

 **A/N: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Hope you guys enjoyed this one!**

 **A note on the cure; so I know that in season eight that they could just extract the cure willy nilly and give it to people, but we're going to assume that in this story that isn't possible and that in order to be cured one has to drain all of a person's blood the way Silas originally did to Katherine, and that is currently the only known way to get the cure.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

 _"I never should've told you anything," she mumbled. "All of that is irrelevant. He's irrelevant."_

 _"You're lying to yourself. Bonnie, you're clearly in denial."_

* * *

Another one stepped forward from the shadows. From the shape of her, she appeared to be a woman and was visibly calmer than the man who just threatened them. "Relax Rodney," a light feminine voice said. "They're obviously not from around here. There's no way they could know the rules." Her eyes scanned around the area. "For the time being, let's take them back to the manor. It's not safe out here." She turned to look back at them. "You'll come with us, won't you?" There was the hint of a threat behind her voice.

Damon didn't trust these people as far as he could throw them, but they were outnumbered, and there weren't any other options. Beside him, a tense Bonnie slowly nodded her assent. "Then follow us."

"Wait," Rodney said, looking between them and the woman. "We can't just bring them back to the manor. We have no idea who they are."

"It'll be fine. If they try anything, then we'll just kill them. But if it can be helped, I would rather not kill them unnecessarily. Too many vampires have died already" She folded her arms across her chest. "Are you still going to object?"

Rodney was silent.

She addressed Bonnie and Damon. "Follow us. We should move quick before more of them appear."

Together, they ran around the outskirts of the city, Bonnie and Damon in the center while the others moved around them in a manner so as to dissuade them from trying anything. Effectively, they had become their prisoners, and Damon was annoyed at that, but he would play along for now.

Their manor was some distance outside of the city and in an area surrounded by farmland. There was a white fence that went around the property, and beside the gate was a vampire leaning up against the fence, waiting. When he saw them, he perked up. "What's this?" He asked the woman, looking at Bonnie and Damon. "I'm taking them to see Mark."

"Alright." They were escorted through the gate, and Bonnie frowned for a split second before her face returned to a neutral expression as they were led down a long pathway to the entrance of the manor. The place was enormous, the ceilings of the foyer area over twenty feet high with a chandelier hanging above them. Directly in front of them was a wide hallway framed by a set of two staircases leading to a second floor with two hallways spanning in opposite directions that led to an east wing and a west wing. They were led down the hallway directly in front of them, passing by a kitchen and an open area that was more like a lounge than a living room.

There were more than enough vampires milling about the hallways or lounging in the rooms they passed. Damon counted about fifteen so far and he didn't doubt there were even more scattered throughout the massive place. They stared at Bonnie and Damon with mild curiosity on their faces, and this made Bonnie uncomfortable. She had tensed considerably while she surveyed their surroundings.

The five others they came with dispersed and they followed Rodney and the woman into another sitting room where they were told to take a seat on a couch. The woman sat on a chair across from them while Rodney stood beside her, arms folded across his chest. He stared at both Damon and Bonnie with suspicion, particularly at Damon who couldn't resist shooting him a taunting smirk that caused his frown to deepen.

Noticing the exchange, Bonnie nudged him in the side. "Behave," she said under her breath.

They sat there, waiting. The woman across from them had her eyes on Bonnie, and Bonnie was in turn watching her, but there was something about the way the woman looked at her that bothered him.

"Where are you both from?"

Damon answered. "A little town in Virginia called Mystic Falls."

She looked at Damon, head cocked to the side in thought. "Hm, can't say that I've heard of it."

Another minute of silence passed before someone entered the room. It was a blonde man who appeared as if he just walked off a farm with his blue plaid shirt, jeans, and work boots. Despite his clothes, there was something regal about the way he held himself that suggested he was a much older vampire. He eyed the both of them before coming to stand beside where the woman sat. He took in their appearances for a long moment before he spoke.

"Who are you, and why are you hunting people around the Kansas City area?"

"I'm Bonnie and this is Damon. We we're just passing through."

"Well, you have picked the wrong city to 'pass through'. This area has been overrun by hunters, so we no longer feed on humans, especially at night. The moment we do, it seems to become easier for them to find us."

"I'm sorry. We didn't know."

"How could you? You're lucky they found you when they did or else you might be dead or worse."

"Or worse?" Bonnie asked.

"We suspect the hunters are capturing vampires for some experiment run by a witch."

Damon leaned forward an inch. "And how do you know this?"

"We have evidence."

"What evidence exactly?" Damon pushed.

The vampire looked distrustful of them. "Why are you interested?"

Bonnie interjected. "The truth is that we're looking for someone who is likely the same witch. We believe she's taken a friend of mine, and we're looking to rescue them."

The three vampires across from them eyed one another before the leader spoke again. "Then maybe we can help one another. We know of a woman who has recently managed to escape. You are welcome to speak with her, but she won't be back until the day after tomorrow for a social gathering happening here, a celebration of sorts."

Rodney's head snapped back towards the man's with a deep frown, but he remained silent.

"If you will join us, I require that you stay here until it happens, and strongly insist that you do not leave or go anywhere near the city or else you will not be allowed back onto the property. If you need food, we keep a steady supply of blood bags here."

"Thank you. We'd appreciate it."

"I'm Mark, and this is Mila and Rodney. They will show you to your room, and if you need anything, they can help you."

He disappeared out of the room, leaving them with the other two vampires.

The woman, Mila, stood up. "Come with me. I'll show you to your room. I'm assuming you don't mind sharing." She exited the room, throwing one last glance back at Rodney who watched as they followed her.

"So long as there are two beds." Bonnie said.

Mila appeared surprised. "Two beds? Are you two not together?"

"We're not."

"Do you want separate rooms then?"

They looked at each other. "No," Bonnie said slowly. "We can share."

Mila led them up a staircase and down a hallway to the left. They passed about seven doors before they stopped in front of the eighth. She opened the door and they followed her inside. "Here we are," She raised her hand up, gesturing towards the room. "A room with two beds as requested. This is where you'll be staying. There's a bathroom through that door in the corner."

"I don't suppose we could go back to our car just to get our things?"

She shook her head. "Mark didn't explain the full situation, but this whole place is on lockdown. It's not just you that he doesn't want leaving, everyone except for a select few of us are not allowed to leave, and even then we're only allowed to leave for blood runs to restock our supply."

"Why is this place on lockdown?"

Her expression turned grim. "There was a bad incident with the hunters a couple of weeks ago. A lot of vampires were killed. I wouldn't mention it too much. A lot of people lost good friends, and its still a touchy subject around here." She switched topics. "Anyway, if you need clothes, I can lend you some, and if you need some," she looked over at Damon, "You look about the same size as Kenneth, I could get him to lend you something."

"I'm fine, thanks." Damon said.

She nodded, then looked at Bonnie. "Alright, come with me for a second."

She and Bonnie left the room, leaving Damon alone. He looked around the room, taking a seat on one of the beds, and they returned a few minutes later.

They both stood together in the doorway, Bonnie holding some folded clothes in her arm.

"This place is pretty big, so if you get lost, don't hesitate to ask where your room is. If you get hungry, we keep blood bags in the main kitchen which we passed on the way in. I'm about three doors down on the other side of the hallway, so shout if you need anything." She lingered, staring at Bonnie for a second longer before she walked back out the door, closing it behind her.

Damon stared at the door for a second, then turned towards Bonnie. "So what was that face you made back at the gate?"

"It wasn't anything. I just sensed magic the moment we stepped through, and if I had to guess it's likely some sort of protective spell and probably the reason why the hunters haven't found this place yet."

"Meaning Mark has at least one friend who's a witch. Is it just me or was the girl into you?"

Bonnie shrugged. "It's not just you." She walked over to the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

"Considering switching teams?"

There was a short pause. "Who says I haven't already?"

That wasn't what he expected to hear, but then Bonnie had occasionally been a little handsy with both the women and the men she's bitten. "You have?" He asked, letting the curiosity filter into his voice.

Bonnie came out of the bathroom wearing a tight black t-shirt and a pair of red plaid pajama pants. "Not exactly, but I…" She trailed off, walking towards the side of the bed, then put her clothes in one of the drawers of the dresser beside the bed along with the gun she'd taken from the hunter.

"But you what?"

"Nothing." She sat on the bed, looking at him.

"Knowing you, it probably wasn't nothing."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you don't seem the type to have a casual relationship with a woman. It was probably serious, and I can tell from the look on your face that I'm right."

Lips curled downwards, she stared at him for a moment longer, looking as if she wanted to say something before lying down and turning over. "I'm going to bed." She slipped underneath the covers.

"Hold on. What are we going to do about your special diet if they don't want us hunting people?"

Bonnie sighed. "I don't know. Can we worry about that in the morning?"

"Fine."

Damon watched her fall asleep quickly for once. He waited until she began to sound distressed, until her breathing picked up and she began to whimper, before he walked over to the side of her bed. He leaned over her, reaching a hand out to brush a loose strand of her hair away from her face. He repeated the action, letting his hand linger on her cheek. Then he closed his eyes and let his mind drift hers into another memory from 1994.

 _Bonnie plopped down beside him, folding her legs beneath her Indian style. They sat close enough that the tip of her left knee rested against his thigh. "How's the research going?" He took a sip of his bourbon._

 _Her mouth became a thin line which was code for not well. "It's going."_

 _"You'll get it back."_

 _"I know"_

 _"And we'll find a way out of here so you can get back to your little boy toy and finally realize you deserve better than that pipsqueak Gilbert."_

 _A pillow landed smack dab in the middle of his face. "Don't talk about him like that, and you're not allowed to have an opinion on my relationship, remember." she said. They had gone through this conversation before, Damon proclaiming to her just how wasted she was on someone like Jeremy Gilbert, but Bonnie didn't want to hear it._

 _He hit her back with the pillow against the side of her head. "I can't help it."_

 _"Next time, keep it to yourself." She moved to hit his head with the pillow again, but he stopped it with his hand before the hit landed._

 _Yanking it from her grasp, he hit her again, harder this time, but not hard enough to really hurt._

 _"Ow!" She glared at him before picking up another pillow and trying to hit him as hard as she could._

 _To her frustration, Damon caught it again before it could hit, then fired it back at her. "Don't start a fight you can't win, Bon-bon. You couldn't hit me again if you tried."_

 _His taunting only served to rile her up. Next thing Damon knew, Bonnie was reaching for the pillows on the other side of the couch, the little black shirt she was wearing, riding up to expose the smooth skin of her stomach. His eyes dipped and distracted for a second, she managed to land a hit on his face. "What was that you just said?" She smirked._

 _He grabbed the pillow she hit him with and they locked eyes for a moment before Bonnie stood up and ran. Damon chucked the pillow at her, which she somehow dodged, and then he was running after her himself. With the advantage of vampire speed, it wasn't long before he had her pinned against the nearby wall._

 _Her heart was pounding in her chest. "You still won't win this fight."_

 _His hands, resting on her small waist, moved to lift the edges of her shirt. Bonnie froze for a second, watching his hands move across her stomach. "Damon, what are you-_

 _She began to squirm as his fingers danced along her sides, but she couldn't hold back the laughter for long. "Stop," she said, the smile bursting forth on her face as she giggled. He tickled her until tears threatened to fall from how hard she was laughing. "Damon, please." It had been so long since he'd seen her laugh like that, and something inside him twisted up at that thought. "Alright, alright. You win."_

 _He stopped, letting her gather herself. Her green eyes looked up at him bright. "How did you know I was ticklish?"_

 _"Lucky guess."_

 _They stared at one another, Damon's hands still lazily resting on her waist while she leaned against the wall behind her. He kept some small distance between their bodies._

 _"Thanks," Bonnie said._

 _"For what?"_

 _She smiled again, and he knew that she was grateful for the distraction he provided from her lack of progress._

 _"You know," he started as he leaned towards her a little, a conspiratorial smirk spreading across his face, "We should do the pillow fight thing again, only in a bedroom and with less clothes next time."_

 _Bonnie punched him on the shoulder playfully. "In your dreams, pervert."_

 _There was another long silent moment where they stared at one another, and his next thought was so strong that Damon couldn't help but say it. "I miss this."_

 _She looked confused. "Miss what? Me calling you a pervert?"_

 _"No." One of his hands raised from her waist, moving to brush a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Seeing you like this." His hand lingered on the side of her face while the other stayed on her waist. He was pushing it, continuing to touch her like this, but he couldn't help himself in the memory, and Bonnie didn't exactly seem averse to it._

" _Like what exactly?"_

 _He couldn't bring himself to say it because he wasn't the cheesy type, but he knew she understood from the way her expression changed._

 _She opened her mouth to say something, but Damon cut her off, not wanting the conversation to descend into the current nature of their relationship again. "Movie?"_

" _Bodyguard?"_

 _He rolled his eyes. "I should've known you would suggest that."_

 _Her lips curled up into a soft smile, and Damon savored the warm look in her eyes before she darted out of his grip and towards the kitchen. "I'll get the popcorn."_

Morning came and Damon woke before Bonnie. He moved away from her and went into the bathroom to take a shower. While he got dressed, her heard Bonnie's sheets rustling as she turned over, her green eyes opening to land on him. He greeted her as he pulled his shirt over his head, but she was silent as she stared at him.

"What?"

She blinked, finally sitting up. "Nothing." She checked her phone.

"Hungry?"

"Famished," she said, and walking into the bathroom. Bonnie got dressed quickly, throwing on a shirt and some jeans that Mila had given her yesterday.

"Think we can sneak you out of here?"

"If we're caught, it might ruin our chances of meeting the one person who might be able to give us a location. Do you really want to risk that?"

She had a point.

"I'll just…I'll try the blood bags again."

The left the room, heading towards the kitchen. The halls were silent. From what he noticed yesterday, most of the vampires here didn't seem to have daylight rings so it was likely they were more active at night. The kitchen was also empty when they rounded the corner, and Damon went into the fridge, pulling out a couple of A negatives for himself and Bonnie.

When he closed the refrigerator door, Rodney had materialized out of nowhere.

"Morning," Bonnie said politely, noticing him first. He nodded at her, maintaining the same look of suspicion he had yesterday. "Do you think it's possible for us to go out for a little while. I promise we won't go into the city."

He stared at the two of them. "Mark meant what he said yesterday. If you leave now, I can guarantee that you will not be welcome back onto this property, especially if you're going out there to feed."

Bonnie held her hands up. "Fine. I'm sorry. I've only been recently turned and I'm not quite used to only blood bags."

"Well I suggest you get used to them," he said coldly.

He walked out the kitchen and sped off somewhere.

"Prick," Bonnie mumbled under her breath. She took one of the blood bags Damon was holding, and she opened it and began to drink while they walked back to their room.

Damon looked at her expectantly once they were inside their room.

She shook her head.

"Suggestions?"

Bonnie stared at him with a furrowed brow and bit the corner of her lip. "I could…" she hesitated. "Yesterday, when I drank your blood, I don't know why, but it…" Damon enjoyed watching her squirm to get the words out. He could figure out what she wanted to ask him, but he wanted to hear it come from her mouth. "Your blood might work," she finally bit out.

"So you want to drink from me."

"Yes."

He ought to make this hard for her, tease her a little bit for how self-conscious she looked. Instead, he sat down on her bed. "If you think it might work, then we'll try it. Go ahead. Wherever you want."

She sat beside him, eyes on his neck, and at first, he thought that was where she was going to go. It was where he wanted her to go, but she grabbed his arm and brought his wrist to her lips, biting down on his veins. Her eyes closed as his blood flowed into her mouth and he felt her tongue running across his skin to lap it up.

To say the action wasn't at least a little arousing would be a lie. Having a woman sucking on your skin anywhere, one was bound to feel something, but feeling her sucking and pulling blood from his veins made him hyperaware of her, and he could feel a heat spreading underneath his skin, up his shoulder, through his chest and then lower in his body. He found himself imagining, against his better judgement, what it would've felt like for her to bite his neck instead, to feel her fangs pierce through his skin, and her lips pulling at his blood there. Suddenly, he was glad she didn't. She sucked on his wrist with abandon, and if she were at his neck like that, he would undoubtedly be tempted to take advantage of the situation.

When his energy began to feel low, he tugged his arm away gently, but Bonnie's grip tightened to hold him still. "That's enough," he said, pulling his arm from her grasp. Leaning on his side, her tongue chased after the blood still flowing from his wrist, but it was already healing. "I need a little more." She pierced the flesh of his wrist again with her incisors and he was nice enough to let her have a little bit more.

"Bonnie," he said standing up and prying his arm from her grip. "You're going to drain me dry," he repeated.

She licked the residual blood off her lips, and his eyes darted down to follow her pink tongue.

They stared at one another. "I guess I should thank you," she said, looking away.

"You're welcome." Feeling hungry, he ripped open one of the blood bags he'd gotten from the fridge and started drinking.

"Why do you think it is that your blood works and the blood bags don't?"

He paused, lowering the blood bag from his mouth. "If I had to guess, it would be because my blood is more like human blood in the ways that feed your instincts as a vampire. Have you ever noticed that human blood from the vein tastes the best when their emotions are heightened?

"I was once told that it was the rush of hormones though not in those terms exactly. Vampires, though dead, still have bodies that function like humans, which means we still get that rush of fear or pleasure when someone bites us." He finished off the rest of his blood bag while Bonnie mulled over that thought.

"Who was it that taught you that?"

"It was something I heard from Stefan once though I think he got it from Lexi."

"Of course he did."

Not long after, there was a knock on their door and Mila opened it. "I forgot to mention the party tomorrow is a bit formal, so you'll need to borrow something." She opened the door wider, revealing another petite woman standing beside her. "This is Katie. You two are more the same size so she can lend you a dress from her closet." She looked over at Damon. "You should go find Kenneth for something. He's usually roaming the first floor living room area."

Bonnie was dragged away by Mila, and Damon figured he might as well go find this Kenneth guy.

When he entered the living room, there were two guys watching a soccer game from the couch with beers in hand. Both of them turned to look when he appeared.

"One of you Kenneth?" Damon asked.

One of them nodded at him. "That would be me. You're one of the vampires they brought in last night, right? Mila already told me you need to borrow a suit for tomorrow, but we'll handle that later. Take a seat." He motioned towards an empty chair beside the couch.

Damon took a seat in it, and there were brief introductions as the other guy introduced himself as Aaron. "What brought you to Kansas?" he asked.

"We're looking for someone," Damon said vaguely.

"Well you picked the worst time to come looking for that person, whoever they are."

"I heard there was some sort of incident."

"Yeah," he took a sip of his beer. "Nobody likes to talk about it, but this place wasn't always a lair of vampires. Most of us were spread across the city, but then a bunch of us were massacred by about twenty hunters one night at a party. I'm talking about fifty vampires gone, and the number kept increasing after that night. To the point where Mark stepped in and offered a safe haven for any vampires left around the city. And here we are."

"How are there so many vampires in Kansas of all places?"

"You're right. It's odd. There weren't always this many vampires around the Kansas area, but before the incident, vampires from all over the Midwest had been migrating to this area for years. The city was known to be a safe spot in the midst of the hunter problem, but of course the hunters have come here too, and most of us are either too wary or too prideful leave. Mark thinks that they planned this, that they strategically attacked the areas that they did for years so that they would gather any stragglers who got away in our city, and now they have us thinking we're trapped."

"And yet, a party is about to be thrown despite this." Damon commented.

"The party isn't what you think." Aaron said.

"Aaron," Kenneth warned.

"What? If Mark wants them here, then they have a right to know."

"What's he talking about?"

Kenneth sighed. "The party is being thrown to celebrate a truce between us and the witches and werewolves around the area. But the party itself is only a front. There are rumors floating around the house that Mark and some of the other supernaturals around the area are planning a large scale attack against the hunters to eliminate the problem. I've heard they have people coming from all over the Midwest."

"Why would the witches cooperate with this?"

"Haven't you heard? They're being hunted as well, so it's in their interest to work with us. The hunters want to get rid of all supernaturals."

"I see."

"Anyway, you're welcome to hang around and watch the game for a while. There's not much else to do around here."

Damon took him up on his offer.

* * *

It wasn't until later that Damon found Bonnie. She and Mila were in the kitchen. Both girls had glasses filled with blood in their hands while they stood close together speaking about something until Bonnie saw Damon and closed her mouth mid-sentence. "I was just about to come find you." She approached him, then turned back towards Mila. "I'll talk to you later, Mila."

Bonnie grabbed Damon's wrist and pulled him into an empty alcove in the middle of the hallway.

"What was that about?" He asked her.

"Nothing. She just likes to pry, and I'm tired of dodging her question while trying not to be rude."

"I heard from one of the guys that she does have the hots for you."

"I know."

"Did something happen?"

"She plainly told me that she was interested, and I turned her down gently."

Damon stared at her outfit. Bonnie was wearing a black dress. The straps holding it up were thin and lead into a v-shaped neckline that dipped just far enough. The waist was tapered, hugging her curves before the fabric fanned out from her hips and came to a stop only a few inches above her knees. No wonder Mila tried to ask her out. "Is that what you're wearing tomorrow?"

She looked down at herself. "No. The other girl, Katie, insisted I try it on, and after I tried it on, she suggested that I keep it on. Anyway, that's beside the point. I'm starving. I've been starving for the past hour." She stepped towards him, her face vamping out.

Wordlessly, he held out his arm, and she took it as soon as he offered, biting down on his wrist again.

It didn't occur to him how it might be a bad idea to let her bite him in the middle of the hallway until he heard people coming. Vampires biting vampires was odd unless sex was involved, and he was certain it would raise questions, but at the same time, he didn't care. Still, he let her know. He leaned his head up against hers. "Someone's coming," he said lowly.

Her mouth detached from his wrist long enough for her to say, "I don't care," before it was back on his wrist. He was slow to move back from her and took a moment to inhale her scent. She smelled of honeysuckle. Damon brought his free hand to her waist, his fingers lightly sitting upon the thin fabric of the dress. The vampires passed with quick glances in their direction before they kept moving.

His movements made her shoot him a quick glare, and he could feel her tense under where his hand rested on her waist, but she didn't stop feeding from him. Unable to resist pushing boundaries, he let his hand rise along her side, and like he knew she would, she arched into him. Where their bodies touched, it was becoming hard to ignore the heated electricity passing through him, a thing that he had become adept at pushing to the back of his mind and pretending it didn't exist.

Only when he began to feel exhausted did he ease his neck away from her mouth, and pull back from her slowly. Her hand that had been holding his wrist fell to his shoulder, sliding over his chest a little before she pulled away further so there was an adequate amount of space between them.

Her eyes met his, and he found himself thinking things he shouldn't.

She frowned. "Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Don't look at me like that."

"Like what?"

Her frown deepened as they stared at one another, then she predictably changed the subject. "Nevermind. You look a bit pale. You should grab something to eat," was all she said. She turned to walk away, Damon watching her until she disappeared down the hall.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for any mistakes and thanks for reading!**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

 _"I'm not in denial," Bonnie insisted._

 _"You know, if you admit it, maybe you can move on."_

* * *

Things were getting a little out of hand.

The more Bonnie drank Damon's blood, the more she began to feel what he felt in the moment. When she first felt it the second time she drank from him, it was as if she was unconsciously pulling at his emotions locked behind a door. During the third and fourth times, that door had been slowly pried open, and his emotions had filtered through. It was hard to describe. Her blood lust had remained at the forefront of her mind, but underneath it, there had been something foreign, feelings outside of her own rooted in the taste of his blood. Thankfully, she still had the wherewithal to distinguish it from her own emotions, but it would be easy to let them mix if she chose, and after feeling what he felt, Bonnie knew that would be a disaster.

She couldn't say she was surprised at the emotions she picked up from him at first. It was clear he enjoyed the thought of her feeding from him, of her needing something from him and being able to provide it, but below that she gleaned he was suppressing a physical desire for her. That wasn't entirely a revelation. Bonnie was aware he'd had a physical attraction to her in the past and suspected that he still felt that attraction, so that hadn't been entirely unexpected. What was unexpected, however, was how beyond that desire was a poignant mixture of nostalgia and regret. She felt all of this the third time she drank from him this morning, and afterwards, she tried her best to avoid him until she was hungry again, but Bonnie had done something stupid. She tried to push herself too far, convincing herself it was because she needed to try and last longer. This led to her not drinking blood for far longer than she should've.

When the blood lust hit, she was hanging around Mila and Katie. Katie had noticed and gotten her a blood bag, but drinking it only sated Bonnie for a little while, and she ended up making an excuse to leave while frantically texting Damon.

 _"Where are you?"_

 _He replied a few seconds later. "I'm in the room."_

 _Using her vampire speed, she was there in less than a minute, and in a haze of blood lust, one second, she was closing the door, and the next, she was biting into Damon's neck on pure instinct. When his blood flowed onto her tongue, she sighed with relief and didn't bother to bite back a moan._ _He had been sitting on his bed, back leaning up against the frame, and Bonnie was half on top of him, one of her knees resting on the bed between his legs and the other foot on the floor. His hand naturally found its way to her hip while o_ _ne of her hands wrapped around the back of his neck and inched into his hair as she pulled his head further to the side. She felt his desire flare, the taste of his blood changing slightly to reflect that. Still bitter, but with a richness that wasn't there before. She sucked and licked, eliciting a soft almost undetectable groan from him, and beyond his desire, she could taste nostalgia, regret, remorse, a rising hunger, and underneath it all a longing that was borderline overwhelming._

 _The heavy weight of his emotions ran through her, feeding something inside her, and while she was lost in his blood, his arm moved around her waist, pulling her slightly closer so the top of her chest rested against his. His nose ran along her neck, and she could tell he was considering biting her, but he never did._

 _When Bonnie came down from the high of blood and emotions around two minutes later, she began to notice how close they were together, how he had sat up to give her better access to his neck, and the top halves of their bodies were pressed together. One of her hands was buried in his hair, her grip tight, and she loosened it, thinking she should let go and back away, but only after just a little more blood._

 _Pretty soon she felt his hand slide up her back from her waist to her neck, his touch heating her cold body. He pulled her back gently, and Bonnie reigned in the leftover hunger. He was pale again, and his heart was beating slow and heavy, but blue irises were dark as they flicked to her lips, and she licked hers reflexively. Neither one of them moved for a beat, then Bonnie slowly backed away and Damon let his hands slide off of her._

 _Bonnie stood in front of him and smoothed her hair back coolly. She tried to ignore the way he was watching her and disregarded how hot the room had become. Like this morning, she had a compelling urge to avoid him._ _"I have to go get dressed for the thing this evening, so I'll see you later."_

 _"Right," he said, and she left without another word._

Bonnie sighed. She wasn't sure how to take what she felt from him and didn't want to think about it, but one thing was certain. Damon had no idea. There was no way he could know that when she fed from him, she was in a sense, invading his mind. To an extent, that was a violation, and the irritating guilty little voice in the back of her head was telling her she should let him know this was happening. Damon, while he didn't understand the meaning of physical boundaries, tended to keep his state of mind under lock and key, so she was sure he wouldn't be too happy when he found out.

"Lost in thought?" Katie said, drawing her from her musings.

Currently, Bonnie sat in front of a vanity getting her hair curled for the first time in a while. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"I said I was almost done." She was in Katie's room, which was much bigger than her own room with Damon, and Katie was behind her working a section of her hair through the curling iron. Behind them, Mila was laying across the bed reading a magazine. The scene invoked memories of the old days with Elena and Caroline. Whenever they would get ready for some event in Mystic Falls, someone would be doing someone's hair or makeup while they gossiped about frivolous things like the latest drama at school or boys. Sometimes she missed the simplicity of those days.

Katie finished running the last section of her hair through the curler. "I say we leave it down," she said, running her fingers through her hair and loosening up the curls. "What do you think Mila?"

"Down is better." Mila placed the magazine on the bed, stood up, and walked over to them. She was already dressed in a short dark red dress that clung to her like a second skin, showing off her tanned legs. Her dark brown hair was curled and pulled back into a loose bun. She gave Bonnie a teasing smile. "I'm sure your _friend_ will appreciate it."

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "We're not friends, and I'm not trying to impress him."

"Of course you aren't, but it wouldn't hurt to show him what he's missing." Katie smirked.

"You know, we heard about your little blood sharing dalliance in the hallway. I thought you said you two had a falling out," Mila said, leaning against the vanity beside her.

"We did, but…it's complicated."

"How complicated?" Katie asked.

These girls really did like to pry. "Too complicated for me to get into it right now."

Bonnie stood up, staring at herself in the mirror. Mila came up behind her. "You look amazing." Out of the ponytail for once, her hair cascaded down her back in soft curls. Her lips had been painted a peachy nude and her eyes were smokey dark blue that matched her dress. The one she'd chosen was an ankle-length dark blue fabric with a slit rising to mid-thigh, and it was cinched in at the waist by a black band with a narrow triangular cut out sitting above it. The collar was conservative, resting just below her neck, but the back was open, and it took some doing, but Bonnie managed to convince them to let her wear a black blazer on top of it so she could hide her tattoo. She did not need any other witches trying to read it.

"You know, if you do want to make him jealous, I'd be willing to help."

Despite herself, Bonnie laughed at that. "Thanks Mila, but I'm good."

"You ready." Katie looked over at the clock as she went to put her shoes on. "We should probably head down."

Bonnie nodded. "I'll meet you down there in the few, I left something in my room."

She left the room first and went back down the hallway to her room. Going over to the dresser, she untucked the gun from between her clothes and placed it underneath the blazer in the waistline of the back of her dress. It could be unnecessary, but Bonnie's intuition was telling her to be prepared for things to go sour at this party. Witches, werewolves, and vampires all in one area tended to be a recipe for disaster.

After making sure her weapon was secure, she made her way downstairs where guests were arriving and making their way into the largest open area of the house which had been transformed into a space to entertain guests. On her way down, she happened to pass by Rodney who gave her one of his usual cold looks before he kept going wherever he was going, and she found herself walking behind two people she didn't recognize, following the soft lull of music. When she came to the source which was the open living area, it was already filled with people socializing with drinks in their hands. Most were standing as there were only a few places to sit, and a bar was set up in the corner with a table full of hors d'oeuvres beside it for the non-vampires. Bonnie glanced around the room for Damon but didn't see him anywhere. She did, however, see Mila by the bar and went over to join her.

"So is the woman who escaped here yet?"

Mila shrugged. "If I see her, I'll let you know. In the meantime, you should get a drink and try to relax. You look tense."

Bonnie couldn't help herself. Being around this many people she didn't know made her instinctively overly cautious and alert, but she made an effort to look more relaxed as she walked over to the bartender and asked for a glass of bourbon.

At the same time, another woman approached the bar asking for a coke and rum. Bonnie had an inkling she might be a witch, and while she waited for her drink, Bonnie took the moment to introduce herself. "You're from one of the covens, aren't you?"

"Yes," she said cautiously.

"Have you ever heard of someone named Morgan Blackwater?"

She frowned. "Where did you hear that name?"

"So you know her?"

"Morgan came to our coven looking for help with a project, but she was promptly turned away by our leader because she's insane. How do you know her?"

"I came across someone who used to work with her a while ago. They told me what she was trying to do."

"What she still _is_ trying to do," the witch corrected. "For your own good, you shouldn't bring that name up around the witches." The woman moved to walk away, but Bonnie grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop.

"Wait, but why is she trying to do it? Why is she so hellbent on finding a cure?"

She looked down at Bonnie's hand on her arm, and Bonnie promptly let go. "All I know is that she thinks werewolves and vampires like you are abominations, and as for witches, I don't know, I think she just hates those of us who are siding with vampires," the witch sighed. "Look, you should drop this subject, and if you're looking for Morgan, stop. She's a very powerful witch and you do not want fight her." She walked away, leaving Bonnie by the bar.

Watching her disappear into the crowd, Bonnie downed the rest of her glass and immediately asked for another one.

"Make that two." She finally heard Damon's voice behind her and turned to look at him. His suit was tailored to perfection, which Bonnie was curious to know how that was considering he had to be borrowing someone else's clothes.

Damon glanced over her dress, lingering on the bit of leg exposed by the slit. "The dress suits her, doesn't it," Mila interjected, placing a hand on Bonnie's shoulder. While Bonnie was speaking with the witch, she had been pulled aside and greeted by someone who it seems had already left.

"It does," he agreed.

Before he could say any more though, the sound of someone tapping on a champagne glass drew everyone's attention towards the staircase where Mark stood on the second step. "Welcome to my home," he started. "I'd like to thank everyone for putting aside our differences to be here, and I'm grateful that the leaders of the Clark and Shaw Covens," he gestured towards a man and woman in the right side of the crowd, "along with the Langmore werewolf pack leaders," he gestured towards the other side of the crowd where two men stood and nodded their heads in acknowledgement, "have graced us with their presence. Together, I hope to ensure our continued alliance to return peace to our homes as we unite against our common enemy," he paused. "Please enjoy yourselves and remember that the enemy of your enemy is your friend." Mark raised his glass.

"Cheers to that," one of the Langmore werewolves raised his glass as well.

A chorus of cheers followed as everyone else raised their glasses, and when chatter began again, Mark disappeared off the step and approached the coven leaders before doing the same with the pack leaders.

"Well," Mila spoke, pulling Bonnie's attention away from Mark's movements. "I've been tasked to mingle and make us look hospitable, so I'll see you two later." She excused herself, leaving Bonnie and Damon alone.

"Friends with her now?"

Bonnie shrugged. "I wouldn't say friends."

He took a sip of his drink, watching her above the rim of his glass. "I saw Mark earlier, and he mentioned he would introduce us to Lianne, the girl who escaped, later on."

"How later is later on?"

"I didn't get a chance to ask, but I'm assuming it's after he irons out whatever plan it is he has with the covens and pack leaders. You know more about the hunter problem than I do. Do you think what they're doing will work?"

"I don't know, but I have a bad feeling about this. With witches seemingly on both sides of the issue, I'm not sure it was smart to invite them here even if some of them are being hunted. I just want to meet this woman and get out of here."

She picked up her glass from the bar and took a large swig of bourbon. Her gaze drifted across the couples who were slowly dancing to music someone had started playing.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Damon was staring at her again. He seemed unable to keep his eyes off her for too long, and the way he was looking at her was too much like the way he looked at her this morning when she fed from him. She didn't need to be drinking his blood to see just how far his thoughts had fallen off the beaten path. She stared back at him, almost mesmerized by the methane shade of his eyes, but she made herself look away from him and out into the crowd where she saw an unexpected familiar face heading straight towards them.

Her eyes widened.

"Bonnie!? I almost didn't recognize you. It's been a while." He opened his arms for a hug which Bonnie couldn't bring herself to deny him.

When he released her, she briefly glanced over at Damon who gave her a questioning look before she pulled the guy all the way across the room into the area where a few people were slow dancing. Only when she was sure they were out of Damon's earshot did she begin to speak. "What the hell are you doing here?" He pulled her into a slow dance, so they stood close and he could whisper low enough so that others around them couldn't hear.

"I could ask you the same, but I was sent to see what this Mark guy is planning and whether or not we should be putting any stake in it. So far most of the hunters have stayed clear of us, but of course we don't want the issues here to spread, so we're considering assisting him." As Bonnie took in that information, he nodded over in Damon's direction. "So who's your friend?"

"No one, just a guy."

"A rather hot guy who's glaring daggers at us, though the glaring is more at me specifically. Something happening there?"

"No."

"Riiiight."

Bonnie sighed and changed the subject. "Look, it's just a feeling and it may or may not be me overreacting, but I have a bad feeling about tonight. You should go."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"But-"

"Please don't argue with me on this. You know that if I'm here, then you don't need to be here, and if he gets mad, you can tell him I threatened you."

He looked ready to argue for a second, but then backed off. "Fine. You coming back anytime soon?"

"I don't know yet, but drinks are on me when I do."

"I'll hold you to that." His eyes raised up behind her. "Don't look now, but he's coming over here."

Bonnie looked anyway and took a step back as Damon approached.

"Are you going to introduce me?"

Bonnie gave the other guy a look, and he got the message. "I'm sorry. I was just leaving, but maybe we'll meet again in the future." He walked away, playfully saluting Bonnie goodbye. Then he disappeared around the corner where the front entrance was.

Damon grabbed Bonnie's hand and before she could pull away, Damon pulled her into him, placing her hands on his shoulders, and letting his hands settle on her waist, the heat from them making her skin hot through the dress she wore as he started a slow sway. "Who was that?"

"A friend of mine," Bonnie said, contemplating whether or not to keep dancing with him.

"From where?"

"From home."

"Which is where exactly, if not in Mystic Falls?"

"That's for me to know and for you to never find out."

A hint of a smile spread appeared on his face. "The mysteries never will never end with you, will they?" His hand shifted on her waist, thumb moving over the cut out of her dress, brushing over the exposed skin of her stomach there. Her muscles clenched, though the muted expression on her face didn't change. "You know I won't leave you alone until I know everything."

"That statement should be grounds for filing a restraining order," Bonnie said dryly.

"You'd have to do better than that to get rid of me."

"Right," Bonnie snorted. "I forgot there's a picture of you next to the word "stalker" in the dictionary."

"I think you mean persistent."

"There's a line between the two and I don't doubt you'd be willing to cross it."

He smirked. "Only because I care."

Her first inclination was to refute what he just said, but she didn't want to start arguing in the middle of a bunch of vampires who might hear them, so she left it at that.

Bonnie let him dance with her for a few moments longer, and for some reason, she let him pull her close to whisper in her ear.

"Hungry yet?" He asked, the low cadence of his voice sending shivers down her spine which he undoubtedly felt. He leaned back from her.

When she looked at him again, his gaze was heavier. "I still have an hour or two left in me."

Bonnie stared up at him, annoyed at herself for having the errant thought that she still found him handsome. She watched a look flit across his face before it turned contemplative.

"Do you ever think about that night? The one in 1994 where things got a little..."

For a second she wasn't sure what he was talking about, then she understood and with understanding came exasperation. Bonnie stopped moving, putting distance between them. "We agreed to never bring that up again, and besides, nothing really happened."

"We never agreed to that, and something almost did. Aren't you tired of-"

Bonnie shook her head and cut him off, not liking the direction of this conversation. "No. We're not doing this song and dance again. I'm sure your _girlfriend_ wouldn't appreciate it."

That effectively silenced him.

A throat cleared beside them, and Bonnie's head snapped towards the person. It was Mark, along with another woman who looked entirely disinterested as if she didn't want to be there.

"Am I interrupting something?"

"Not at all," Bonnie responded.

He motioned towards the woman beside him. "This is Lianne. Lianne, these are the people I was telling you about, Bonnie and Damon."

"It's nice to meet you. If you could tell us where you escaped from and how, that would be a big help."

"I can. Mark told me you wanted to rescue your friend, but what exactly do you think you're going to do by yourself."

"We have our resources," Bonnie said.

"Which we should pool together if we're going to get rid of this threat," Mark added.

"I understand what you're trying to do, but we only want to rescue our friend. We have no interest in being involved in whatever it is you're planning."

"Surely, the chances of your success would be greater if we work together."

"We work alone," Damon insisted.

Mark looked ready to test their resolve, but then seemed to reconsider. "I'm sorry to hear that."

Bonnie looked towards Lianne. "So how did you manage to get out?"

"Luck. One of theirs got careless and I bit him, threatened him to tell me the way out, and somehow managed to find my way to the exit after that."

"And do you remember where the place was?"

She looked to Mark who nodded his head. "I was a bit out of it, but the facility was in Texas in the middle of the desert outside of Amarillo."

"I'm assuming you don't have an address?"

"No address, but let me see your phone." Bonnie procured her phone from her blazer pocket and watched as she pulled up a map and placed a pin on it. It was in this area."

"Thank you."

"Is there anything else you can tell us?" Damon asked her.

"Only that the place was a labyrinth, but they kept us on the third basement level."

"Thank you. You've been extremely helpful."

"You're welcome," Lianne said. "Any chance you'll reconsider joining us?"

"I'm sorry, but I do know someone who might be able to help you," she looked to Mark, "I can give you their contact information and you can tell him I told you to call. Do you have your phone on you?" Mark pulled his phone out of an inner pocket in his suit jacket and gave it to her. She put a name and number into his phone, then handed it back to him. His eyes lit up in recognition at the name, then he put his phone back inside his suit jacket. "Thank you for this."

"No, thank you for allowing us to stay here Mark-"

Mark picked up on the finality of her tone. "You're leaving right this instant?"

"We no longer have a reason to stay. So thank you again."

Before she and Damon could take their leave, a loud crashing sound made her head snap towards the windows, and the sounds of gunshots made her immediately move for cover. There were at least ten men in black, swat-esque suits filing into the house with wooden-bullet assault rifles. Mark and Lianne we're immediately on the offensive, disappearing from where they stood to attack the intruders. Everything turned into chaos as people started dying, and Bonnie acted fast, immediately pulling the gun sitting in the back of her dress. With vampire speed, she was swift and accurate, using it to shoot about four hunters in the head, but there were still more and the enemies only seemed to be increasing in number with every second.

"We need to get out of here," Damon said.

He was right, but Bonnie looked over and saw Katie on the ground, dead. Her stomach churned with unwanted guilt at the thought of leaving, but she reminded herself that survival came first. "Let's go," she said, but as soon as she did, more appeared.

Damon cursed. "Where the fuck do they keep coming from?"

A lot of the people around them were dead, vampire, witch, and werewolf alike, but Bonnie tried not to focus on that fact as she continued to shoot the hunters until her bullets ran out. She managed to clear a path for them towards the front door, but as they approached, the door was kicked in and more came through. Damon went for the first one that came through, using him as a shield from the bullets while he took a stake from his belt and threw it at another one, landing it in the exposed skin of his throat. Without any bullets, Bonnie was forced to rely on her magic, and she cast _incendia_ , setting the others that came through on fire one after another. While they screamed and burned to death, Damon snapped the neck of the one he was holding and once things grew quiet, they both took a breath, thinking there wouldn't be more for a second, but they were wrong.

A grenade was thrown in their direction, and Damon saw it first, so he dove towards Bonnie, pushing them both across the room to the floor. After the explosion died down and only a cloud of smoke remained, Bonnie heard the gunshots begin and reacted. She flipped them, so that she was straddling on top of him and with an invisible force, she immediately pushed back the men who had just entered the house and were pointing their guns at them.

Holding them against the wall, she got off of Damon, and he stood up after her, rushing towards the men and killing all of them before they could regain their footing.

This was when she noticed Damon had been shot twice, once by a wooden bullet in the shoulder and another by a stake sticking out of his chest, and she herself had a bullet in her thigh. He clutched his shoulder while blood poured from the wound. Then Mila, Rodney, and a few people she didn't recognize sped around the corner, heading towards the front door. "Bonnie, are you alright?" Mila asked, looking around at the massacre of bodies on the floor in front of them. "Did...did you do this?" She was looking at the burnt bodies. She and Damon were the only two vampires in the foyer, and the bodies were clearly unnaturally burned.

"There's no time to explain," Bonnie started to walk towards the front door, but found she couldn't pass the threshold. She pressed her hands against in the middle of the doorway and found an invisible wall.

"We're trapped." Someone said.

"They spelled the door. I knew we should've never trusted the witches," Rodney complained.

"You think this is our fault. There are as many of us dead as the rest of you vampires," someone else said.

Bonnie ignored them, placed her hands on the door, and started to siphon the magic. "I thought she was a vampire?" Bonnie heard Mila say to Damon.

"She's a bit special," was his response. When Bonnie was done siphoning the magic, she stepped through and the others followed behind her.

The moment they stepped outside, however, five more hunters seemed to appear from nowhere and surrounded them. Bonnie wondered how there could be so many. There had to at least have been fifty of them so far.

"Don't move!" One of them shouted. The rest had their guns pointed at them.

"Should we capture these?" One of the hunters asked.

In the few seconds they debated, Bonnie's mouth tightened as she stepped towards them. She was not about to die here. Her eyes grew heavy with concentration as she pulled on the magic inside of her. A crack of thunder sounded like a whip, drawing everyone but Bonnie's attention to the sky. The speed at which she was wordlessly casting the spell quickly used up the magic she'd absorbed as well as her own magic, causing the tattoo on her back to begin to burn. Bonnie spoke three words in latin and they couldn't fire their guns quick enough. _"Q_ _uinque fulgur ferit,"_ she said, and lightning fell on all of them at the same time, striking them dead.

"That's new," Damon remarked.

"What are you?" Mila asked.

Bonnie turned to Mila and the rest of the people. "What I am doesn't matter. There could still be more of them so everyone should start running away from here." They did as they were told, some scattering, and some sticking together. Bonnie watched Rodney lead a couple of vampires off into the distance, but Mila remained behind for a moment.

"I don't understand what just happened, but I'm grateful. Stay safe, the both of you." Mila sped off, and once she was gone, Bonnie took a few seconds, quickly pulled up the tattered rags of her dress, and dug out the bullet inside of her thigh. She bit back a whimper of pain, wincing as her hand dug into the muscle and tore her wound open further, but she got the bullet out and almost immediately felt better after. This way she would be able to run faster.

"Come on," she said to Damon. "We need to get out of here before more appear out of nowhere again."

He nodded, and they both took off as fast as they could.

* * *

The car was where they left it, and once inside, Bonnie had Damon open his shirt just enough so she could pull it off his shoulder where the bullet was and she used her fingers to dig it out the same way she had dug the bullet out of her thigh. When she was done, she looked at his chest. He had long since removed the stake some time ago, but it showed no signs of healing.

"Pretty sure there are splinters still in there," he said. She looked up at him, meeting his eyes and noticing how close she was to him. Moving back, she settled into the driver's seat.

"Yeah, they make them so they splinter easy nowadays, but I'll find us some place to stop, so I can get them out." She pulled off into the street.

"That spell back there, where did you learn it?"

"An old witch's grimoire. A lot of her spells had to do with the manipulation of nature."

Bonnie stopped at the first motel she saw. Telling Damon to stay put, she got out and got them a room, ignoring the looks she got in her ripped dress. The person at the front desk asked her if she was alright and seemed to be on the verge of making a phone call to the police, so Bonnie compelled him to believe she was fine and just hand her the key. She went back to get Damon and bring in her duffel bag as well as one of the blood bags in her cooler.

"Take off your shirt."

He took it off for her and sat down on the bed closest to him. From her duffel bag, Bonnie pulled out a first aid kit from which she grabbed a pair of tweezers and got to work on the hole in Damon's chest. She braced one hand on his uninjured shoulder and leaned him back so the overhead light shined into his injury. Moving a hand to his chest, she steadied herself as she began to pick through his wound with the other hand.

Bonnie could feel his eyes on her as she worked. He watched her but said nothing, occasionally wincing as she pulled out the splinters.

"Can't you be gentler?"

"Don't be a baby."

He scoffed at her. "This is the thanks I get for taking a a bullet for you?"

She glanced up at him, his blue eyes burning holes into hers. "Thanks," she said, finding another splinter with her tweezers and pulling it out.

She examined the wound. "Feel anymore anywhere."

"No."

"Then here," she grabbed one of the blood bags she'd brought and handed it to him. He sat up and drank, his wounds healing faster with every drop of blood he ingested.

Bonnie stood up, and the exhaustion suddenly hit her. "I'm going to take a shower." She grabbed her usual nightly shirt and shorts from her bag.

"Leaving so soon?" Damon quipped. "I thought we were going somewhere with the doctor-patient roleplay."

She couldn't roll her eyes hard enough at him before she closed the bathroom door behind her.

Taking a quick shower, she changed into her pajamas, and when she came out, Damon went in. She heard the shower water start a few seconds later.

Moving her things off the bed, she laid down and she must have been more exhausted than she thought because the moment her head hit the pillow, she was asleep.

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! Thought I would be done with this earlier, but the action scenes always give me trouble, though less than a month between chapters is still good for me lol. Also,** **I know ya'll are ready to know what happened in Bonnie's past, and I promise a bit of an explanation is coming soon, but I'm sorry that it's taking me so long to write this!**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

 _"I have moved on."_

 _"No, I don't think you have. Don't hate me for saying this, but there was something there, and you denying it has only amplified everything you felt towards him. I think if you just admit it, you'll be able to let go."_

* * *

Damon hadn't meant to go there.

Bonnie was tossing and turning in her sleep, tears falling from her eyes as she had another nightmare. He went to help her, to dream-walk her into another memory from 1994, but he hadn't meant for it to be _that_ one.

 _Bonnie closed the cover of Kate Chopin's "The Awakening", finally finished._

 _Damon looked over at her. "How was it?"_

 _They were sitting on the couch in the living room area of the boarding house. Bonnie's legs were sprawled across his again, one of her legs hanging off his thigh and the other slightly bent at the knee, her foot resting on the other side of him while the rest of her leg leaned against his torso. She was wearing short shorts, the kind that hugged her ass perfectly, and one of his hands rested on the inside of the bent thigh while he watched some movie he had thrown on. For the past few minutes, his thumb absentmindedly made a small movement back and forth on the inside of her thigh, and the light scent of her slight arousal pervaded the air between them. He took a deep breath, having the wayward thought that he would very much enjoy burying his face between her legs._

 _Unaware of his obscene thoughts, her dainty fingers tapped the book's cover as she took a second to think about her answer to his question. "The ending was depressing, but the novel itself was beautiful in its own way. I'm actually surprised you like such a feminist novel," She smiled. "Though maybe I shouldn't be."_

 _His thumb made another circle against her skin. "Why's that?" Her legs always seemed to be so smooth, and he might be developing a slight obsession with them._

 _"From the stories you've told me of the past, you seemed pretty progressive for the nineteenth century, and you would never admit it, but you're a romantic at heart. People wanting to defy against societal rules in the name of love is somehow something that sounds like you."_

 _She began to move, sliding her legs off his as she rose from the couch. Damon's eyes went straight to her ass, watching it as she walked over to the bookcase, putting the book back where it belonged. Recently, between the lack of bras and the short shorts, sometimes he could swear she was trying to torture him, though this was a kind of torture he didn't mind. Still, he wasn't sure how much longer he would last with all the teasing. Lately_ _, they had been doing it a lot, and it became evident that she liked getting a reaction from him, liked seeing him watch her, and Damon took his own pleasure watching, though he liked it even better when he could find an excuse to touch her._

 _Looking back at him over her shoulder, she caught his gaze before she turned back around, but he could tell she was biting her lip._

 _It was a game they'd been playing, a give and take, a back and forth, a touch and be touched. Damon wasn't sure when it had started, but they both should've known better, should've stopped while they were ahead. He hadn't wanted it to stop though, and he was certain she hadn't wanted it to stop either._

 _There was something about the combination of her looks and personality that drew him in. Even before they were stuck here, Damon had the occasional stray thought about her, but the more he spent time with her and the closer they became in the prison world, the more frequent those sorts of thoughts became._

 _He did try to keep some semblance of distance between them. That distance, however, probably wasn't as far as it should've been. In the prison world, Damon craved physical contact far more than usual. Without anyone else in this world, it was as if touch had become a reaffirmation of the fact that they were still alive, a reminder that they weren't dead. Bonnie had become his anchor, and if something ever happened to her and he was left alone, he wasn't sure how long he would be able to last. In the loneliness of this place, he wouldn't be surprised if Bonnie was so receptive to his touch because she too needed that physical contact to remember she was still alive._

 _As the focus of his thoughts stood before the shelves, searching for her next read, she looked lost. Damon stood from the couch and walked over to her, his intentions pure, but his thoughts in the gutter as his wayward mind recklessly imagined pushing her up against the bookcase and having his way with her._

 _Pushing those delinquent thoughts aside, he approached her from behind. It took her a moment to notice. "Need another recommendation." He stood closer than he should've, invading her personal space, but she was used to that by now._

 _She turned around and looked up at him, lightly brushing her shoulder against his chest. "Sure. I could use one, but maybe something with a less depressing ending this time." There was a soft smile on her face and the way the light hit her made her green eyes glimmer and her skin glow in a way that made him pause. They stared at one another for a long moment. Then his eyes dropped to her lips. All thoughts of giving her any recommendation were gone, and he found himself encroaching upon her and pushing her into the bookcase. When her scent hit him, Damon stopped thinking altogether._

 _With her back against the shelf, he towered over her. She stared up at him with an unreadable expression, her hands bracing themselves on his arms while his hands went to her waist. He leaned down until their noses brushed, and Bonnie's eyes fluttered shut, her grip on his arms tightening before shifting to his shoulders as he pressed further into her. There was no space between them now, and his hands slipped from her waist to slide over her hips, effortlessly pulling up her thighs so her legs would wrap around him. A tiny gasp left her lips as he pushed their lower halves together. Then she tilted her head, and let her nose brush against his again as she inhaled the scent of him. When her eyes opened, he drowned in a sea of green. Their lips were a centimeter apart and Damon closed that small distance until their lips barely touched, but something kept him at bay._

 _"Damon," Bonnie whispered against his lips. "What are we doing?"_

 _Good question. "You tell me Bonnie." He could sense her hesitation. Her lips brushed against his, setting them on fire and he wanted so badly to close his mouth around hers. In the back of his mind, he had known why he shouldn't do this no matter how much he wanted her in that moment, but he was half listening to, half ignoring that voice._

 _Bonnie, on the other hand, was still completely listening to her conscience. There was one word she could utter to put an end to it, one word, and she was going to utter it, ruin the moment, and later Damon would guiltily masturbate to the thought of making her scream his name while he fucked her against this bookshelf. In that moment, however, he wouldn't completely regret not kissing her, but he wasn't sure he could say the same in present day._

 _The movement was microscopic, but she had started to press her lips against his, and before she could hesitate, pull away, and remind him that they both had significant others, Damon pressed forward, capturing her bottom lip between his._

 _The kiss ended far too soon as it took less than a second before Bonnie was pushing him off of her,_ and she shot up out of her bed, grabbing Damon's hand from her forehead. "What do you think you're doing?" There was a furious expression on her face directed at him where he sat beside her on the bed.

He raised up both hands in a placating gesture. "It wasn't entirely intentional." Bonnie looked doubtful of that, but Damon was being honest. He hadn't intended to go back to that night, but it had been on his mind lately, and manipulating a person's dreams was a tricky thing. It wasn't impossible for his subconscious to lead them into a memory different than he intended.

She glared at him. "Just stay out of my head, Damon"

"So we're going to keep pretending like you didn't already know I was helping you with your nightmares."

She gripped the covers, turning away from his gaze and looking down at her hands. "And I appreciated that, but you went to far with that one. You should've known I wouldn't let you replay that night the way you wished it had ended."

"Afraid of what might've happened next?"

"Afraid?" Bonnie scoffed, eyes raising back to his. "What would I have to be afraid of? I mean what did you think would happen? Did you think it would've been a life-altering kiss that changed my entire world and made me forget why I'm still upset with you? News flash Damon, I don't want you that way. So tell me, I'm curious to know what exactly you were thinking when you decided you were going to actually kiss me?"

Damon was quiet for a moment, mulling over the question when he wasn't entirely sure of the answer himself. He hadn't been thinking. Impulse had driven him, but if he were to give a reason… "I guess I needed to know," he said, shrugging.

"Know what?"

"What it would be like to stop denying that there's nothing here, between us."

She blew out a frustrated breath. "There _isn't_ anything here. That night was a momentary lapse in judgement."

"Just that night? As I recall there was one in Europe too."

Bonnie looked away from him, obviously not expecting him to bring that up. "Another momentary lapse in judgement. I was drunk, and we both agreed we got carried away."

"No. You were the one that said we got carried away and swept the whole thing under the rug."

"Regardless, we went back to our rooms with different people. You…almost doing what you did to me in the middle of that club doesn't mean there's something here."

"Then prove it to me," Damon leaned closer. "Prove it to me that there's nothing between us," he baited.

Bonnie said nothing, her eyes flicking down to his lips. Maybe it was his imagination, but Damon could've sworn she moved a fraction of an inch closer. One corner of her mouth turned up ever so slightly as she snorted at him and shook her head. "I'm not an idiot, Damon. I know what you want from me."

"And what's that?"

Her gaze was unflinching over her next words. "To shove your tongue down my throat and stick yourself inside me."

While that wasn't entirely untrue, the vulgarity of her response had been unexpected. Hearing her talk like that was more of a turn on than he'd thought it'd be though. He smirked, unable to help himself. "We both know you'd enjoy it."

"That may be true," she surprisingly admitted, "but we're past the point of you having your cake and eating it too. It will never happen." Somehow Damon doubted she believed that. She almost sounded like she was trying to convince herself. And if she was aware of the dreams, she could've stopped him at any time, but she hadn't.

His smirk grew wider. "You're a professional at this, aren't you?"

Her expression was a mixture of confusion and forced neutrality. "A professional at what?"

"Denial."

She frowned at him as that particular word seemed to get under her skin. "Okay. You want to talk about denial, then let's talk. Why are you suddenly trying to make me acknowledge that there's something between us? You have Elena, Damon. We're about to go rescue her for god's sake, and you're sitting here practically propositioning me. I don't know what's going through your head, but _you're_ in denial if you think that she'd ever be okay with this."

"'Propositioning' is a bit of a strong word. It's not like I suggested we have sex. _You're_ the one talking about putting my dick inside you."

"Damon..." She warned in a tone that told him he was pushing it.

He went quiet again.

Alright. So maybe she was right, and Damon wasn't quite sure what was going through his head himself. He had Elena, loved Elena, yet he _wanted_ Bonnie. Admittedly, he had wanted her even before he desiccated, and being around Bonnie after waking up, he had thought it would be easier to let that attraction go, but nothing had changed. Underneath his own layer of denial, desire for her festered inside of him now just like it had back then, and the more time he spent around her, the more he was falling back into old thought patterns, wavering between desiring her and repressing that desire as he remembered all the reasons why he shouldn't go there.

Yes, maybe he had technically just been thinking about cheating on Elena with one of her best friends, but in his defense, he hadn't actually done anything wrong. Besides, was it actually cheating if he didn't know whether Elena was actually awake or not? And maybe he had tried to kiss her in the dream, but the dream wasn't even real. It didn't count. He knew he had been wrong to push the boundary between them that far, but it was a subconscious impulse, not his active intentions. Still, it was scary how easy it was for him to even subconsciously put Elena on the back burner, but it wasn't as if he didn't feel the same way he'd always felt towards her. That love was still there, even though peripherally, it was on the verge of being overshadowed by the intense pull he felt towards Bonnie alongside the need to regain her friendship.

He ran a hand through his hair.

How had he gotten here? How had his attraction to her become this excessive? It felt like only yesterday he was still clinging to the notion that the only reason he'd been fixated on Bonnie was only because he'd been stuck with her in 1994.

Damon may not fully understand, but where it all stemmed from was obvious. Never having truly explored his physical attraction to her, Damon had been left to wonder, and it had started to eat at him. They say people always want what they can't have, and this was no different. Damon had placed Bonnie on a pedestal, marked her as a forbidden fruit. And because she reinforced the distance between them, he had managed to resist temptation. Now, for some reason, he was finding it harder and harder to want to keep his distance. When she almost died before he desiccated, it had been easier to let go because he considered himself a hazard to her safety, but after waking up, everything he'd ever felt for her came rushing back. He repressed the part of him that wanted her physically, partially out of habit, partially because Bonnie, outside of 1994 and a few isolated moments in Europe, gave him the impression that she wanted to keep things platonic despite the undercurrent of attraction between them. But now that he was looking down the barrel of a future singularly with Elena, Damon was naturally curious. He wanted a taste of the forbidden fruit before it slipped from his grasp forever because he needed to somehow make sure that his feelings towards her didn't run any deeper than they already did.

A full minute passed, and Damon still hadn't said anything when her phone rang out of the blue. Bonnie turned to stare at it, probably wondering who might be calling her at four a.m. in the morning. She answered. "Hello?"

"Bonnie! Thank god!" The familiar voice of a certain blonde vampire flitted through the phone. "I just got off the phone with Alaric and he told me what happened. We're on our way back from Nepal now."

"Nepal? I thought you two were in Europe."

"Well we were in Europe, but Stefan made this joke about having sex at the top of Mt. Everest and well…the details don't really matter, but as for why we couldn't answer, besides the fact that there's no reception on Mt. Everest, our phones were stolen in one of the towns we visited while we were distracted, and for some reason I let Stefan convince me we should go without technology for another week."

"Are you telling me _y_ _ou_ hiked up Mt. Everest?" There was a hint of disbelief in Bonnie's voice.

"Hey! I can be outdoorsy. Remember that summer camp in middle school. We went hiking then, and I enjoyed it."

A slow smile spread across Bonnie's face, lighting up her features. "Caroline, you hated it and almost had a meltdown when you found a tick on your arm."

"That did happen didn't it," she laughed a little, then grew silent for a second. "I've missed you Bon. We haven't talked in eons."

The smile slowly fell from Bonnie's face. "I know. I've missed you too, and I'm sorry for the things I said the last time we spoke."

"No. I'm the one that should apologize for what I said, and I'm sorry you've had to deal with this on your own."

She looked over at Damon. "I haven't exactly been on my own."

"Right. Alaric told me he was up and about, but you and I both know that having his help is just as good as being on your own." Damon took offense to that. In the past, there were quite a few situations where he had been far more useful than she'd ever been. I mean, without him, Bonnie might still be trapped in the prison world. "Is he there?"

"I'm here blondie, and I can hear you talking shit about me."

"Good. I want you to know, for all the hurt you've caused, I'll be talking shit about you until the day you die."

"Is Stefan around?"

The was a short pause. "He's here."

"Put him on."

There was a rustling as the phone was handed off on the other side of the line, and Bonnie handed Damon her phone.

"What is it?" Stefan asked. He sounded the same as ever, but Damon knew his brother well enough to hear the tinge of annoyance in his voice.

Damon bit back his pride. "I'm sorry."

Stefan didn't say anything for a long moment.

"You still there?"

"I am. I'm just shocked that the first thing to come out of your mouth is an apology."

"Yeah well. Don't get used to it." Damon passed the phone back to Bonnie.

"Stefan?"

"What did you say to him?"

"To make him apologize. Nothing in particular, though I do recall telling him that I might have been more inclined to forgive him if an apology had been the first thing to come out of his mouth."

"And they say you can't teach an old dog new tricks."

Bonnie snorted at that.

"So have you found any leads on her yet?"

"We have a possible location, and we're headed there today."

"Send it to us, and we'll try to get there as soon as we can. We should be there within 24 hours…"

Caroline's voice suddenly came through the phone. "Please don't do anything drastic before we get back."

"I can't promise that, but I'll see you guys when you get here."

"Alright. You better keep her safe, Damon."

Considering how Bonnie could very much handle herself, he almost scoffed at that, but then he remembered that they had no clue she was a vampire-witch. "I will," he said instead.

They hung up, and Bonnie put the phone down on the bed. She looked at Damon, then down at the time her phone. "It's a nine-hour drive to Amarillo, so we might as well get ready to go. I'm going to get dressed," Bonnie said before disappearing into the bathroom with her bag.

Damon moved back to his bed and laid back. They would have to make at least one stop today before they went to Texas. All he had to wear was the ruined suit from the mansion, so he would need new clothes. And before they left the motel, Bonnie would have to feed, be it from him or from a random human in the vicinity.

Based on the way she had been acting recently after drinking form him, Damon doubted she was going to continue. Though, at the same time feeding on people was still outside of Bonnie's moral standards.

When she came out, Damon figured he might as well go ahead and address the feeding issue. "Before we go, you should eat so there's option one where you go back to feeding on humans or there's option two where you keep feeding from me. Which is it going to be?"

"I…" She hesitated.

"If you want to keep using me, I'm fine with it."

She bit her lip, reluctant to say what came out of her mouth next. "I don't want to feed from any more humans if possible, but there's something I should tell you."

He looked at her expectantly.

"When I feed from you, I've started to feel your emotions."

Well that explained her behavior back at the mansion. "What exactly does that mean? To what extent do you feel my emotions?"

"It's difficult to explain, but when I'm drinking your blood, I can taste whatever you're feeling. At first it was only surface emotions, but every time I drink from you, it goes deeper."

Damon was quiet for a long moment.

"Does it bother you?"

"That you know how I feel? Yes and no. But I was just thinking how it might be easier for you to forgive me if you understood how I genuinely regret what I've done."

Bonnie sighed. "Me understanding doesn't make it any easier. I know you regret it, but I can't trust that you won't do the same thing again if I decided to let you back into my life."

"Even if I promise I'll be on my best behavior?"

"You know I can't trust that, and after what just happened earlier, maybe it's best if we keep our distance from one another."

She was probably right, but that was the last thing Damon wanted. She wasn't going to get rid of him that easily. "So you aren't going to feed from me,"

"I didn't say that."

"Then here." Damon stood up and walked over to her. She grabbed his arm, bringing his wrist to her mouth, and he watched her face change as her mouth clamped down on his veins and pulled the blood from them as usual. While she drank, he watched her and wondered if she was already feeling his emotions. Could she tell how he craved her in ways he shouldn't, that her biting him affected him more than he let on? Beyond that, could she tell how much he cared about her, that he cared about her enough to let go of her? Could she tell that it still gnawed at him, the thought of what it would've been like to wake up and find she was dead? He still thought about that occasionally, and every time it made his chest tighten. He hated that feeling, and if he could help it, he was never letting her go again. He couldn't imagine it. Damon didn't like to think too deeply on his emotions, but there was so much he felt about her, for her, much of which couldn't be put into words. Could she feel all of that when she drank from him?

When she finished, she let go of his wrist on her own and stared up at him, a light sheen of water in her eyes. After she blinked a few times, they were clear again.

"Bonnie?"

"I...I need to go make a phone call. Meet me outside by the car in a few minutes" She grabbed her phone and headed out of the room.

* * *

They started on their way to Amarillo, Texas, following navigation to the location that Lianne had given them. On the way, they made a quick pit stop at a store to get Damon more clothes, then they were back on the road again.

"When we get there, we should just scope out the place. If we think we can handle it, we go in. If not, we'll wait until Stefan and Caroline get here before we make a move," Damon said.

"Alright."

The car ride grew quiet again. There were questions Damon thought to ask, but ever since they left the motel, she'd been in a weird mood. He figured he'd agitated her enough today and two hours passed in silence until out of nowhere, white smoke began to filter out from under the hood of the car. "Are you kidding me?" Bonnie mumbled under her breath. They pulled over to the side of the road, and Bonnie got out. Damon immediately opened the hood to figure out what the problem is, and a burst a of white smoke flooded into his face. He waved his hand back and forth over the engine, trying to clear the smoke away. There was probably a coolant leak, and after looking around, it seemed like the source of the leak might be one of the radiator hoses.

He looked back at Bonnie. She was standing beside the hood with her arms folded across her chest. "We're going to have to call someone for this."

They called a tow truck and had the car towed to the nearest repair shop where they could fix it. The mechanic was a part of a gas station and there was nowhere to really wait, but outside on a nearby bench or inside of the convenience store. Bonnie mumbled something about not wanting to be out in the open like this, and the gas station just happened to be near a shopping center, so while they fixed their car, they headed over to wait in the coffee shop across the street.

Bonnie ordered herself a latte while Damon took a seat in a corner and Bonnie went to join him.

Since the car had broken down, there had been something strange going on with Bonnie. She looked extra vigilant, more so than usual which was saying a lot. Her eyes darted around the coffee shop, looking at everyone at least twice before she took a sip of her coffee.

"Something wrong?" She was looking around the coffee shop for the third time when he asked her.

"I don't know," she said.

"You're acting weird."

"Since we left, I keep feeling like someone's watching me."

Damon let his eyes wander around the room but saw no one even remotely paying any attention to them. It wasn't as if the coffee shop was all that full anyway. There was a couple in the corner, and a few more people sitting at tables alone. All of them seemed to be minding their own business.

The door opened and another person came in, Bonnie tensed, and her eyes immediately went to them. After a moment she released some of that tension. "I think maybe we should leave." She stood up, grabbing her cup of coffee. She started to head for the door when she looked outside and something made her stop.

Damon followed her line of vision to a woman in a dark green sundress, tanned with black curly hair and light eyes. She didn't look like a threat, but when he looked back at Bonnie, there was a panicked expression on her face.

Before the woman entered the building, Bonnie grabbed Damon's shirt and tugged him in the opposite direction of the door, around the corner and towards the bathroom area where there was another exit. "Who was that?"

"We need to get out of here."

Damon could tell Bonnie was trying not to look too panicked and failing. She led him out the exit and sped off to a spot beside another store on the opposite side of the shopping center, as far away form the coffee shop as she could get without leaving the area.

She pulled out her phone and immediately called someone. Whoever it was picked up on the second ring. "The spell is still going right?"

"It should be, why?" they answered. It was a woman, but the voice wasn't one Damon recognized.

"Because I just saw her."

"I'll check on it." There was some movement, then they spoke again. "Only two of the decoy marks have disappeared on the map. There are still four more, but she could've just gotten lucky. Has she seen you?"

"I wouldn't be talking to you if she'd seen me."

"Then you need to run."

"We can't just run. The car randomly broke down and is being fixed. And honestly, I might be paranoid, but I think it might've somehow been her."

"Where are you?"

"In Kansas still, at a shopping center off of the highway."

"Okay, I see you moving on the map. I'll try to throw her off and draw her away from there by concealing where you are and sending the mark elsewhere, but in order for it to work, I'll need you to conceal your presence there as well."

"Thank you." Bonnie hung up.

"So let me get this straight, that woman back there is after you," Damon noted.

"Yes, that woman back there is after me," Bonnie repeated in confirmation.

"Are you going to tell me who she is or why?"

Bonnie sighed. "All you need to know is that she wants to kill me for something I did, and she's extremely powerful and extremely dangerous."

"What did you do?"

Bonnie grimaced. "Only what had to be done."

"Does this have something to do with the nightmares?" He had originally thought they might have to do with her days as a huntress, but the way she had looked just now after he asked her what she'd done made him think otherwise.

"I'm not going to talk about the details with you. Now stand close to me."

He moved beside her, and Bonnie whispered the _invisique_ spell, cloaking the both of them, and they waited in the shadow of the buildings, vigilant, but her friend's spell must have worked because no one found them, and they remained safe until the time the car was fixed and they could get back on the road, but even after they were back on the road, Damon's thoughts were on what it was Bonnie could've done and just how powerful that person had to be to cause her to panic the way she had back there.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for any mistakes and thanks for reading! Trying to get inside Damon's mind in the first half of this chapter almost gave me an aneurysm. I don't know what it is, but my thoughts on his thoughts are a mess because his thoughts are a mess, and I'm sitting here trying to make sense of that mess, and it came out messy so I tried to make it less messy, then I said screw it and decided to post the chapter lol.**

 **Anyway, thanks to everyone who's been favoriting, following, or reviewing this story! You guys honestly gave me the strength I needed to ignore my responsibilities and finish this chapter way sooner than I thought it would be done!**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

 _"But what if I can't move on, what if it only becomes worse?"_

 _"Even if it does momentarily, he's not here, and he's not coming back. Those feelings will dissipate with time."_

* * *

Bonnie was thankful for the silence of the car.

Too much had happened that morning. From the dream to arguing with Damon to talking with Caroline for the first time in months to being overwhelmed while drinking Damon's blood. Then to top it all off, the one person she feared more than anything else in the world had been this close to finding her.

This would've never happened if she still had the necklace. It was a shame Dr. Ross destroyed it. The onyx stone in center was spelled to cloak her location from any locator spell, and it would've protected her from being found. Without it, the only thing protecting her was a spell that used her blood to project her magic signature in six different locations. It was enough to confuse her pursuer, but there had always been a chance that she would get lucky and choose to follow the one that led to her actual location. Though now that she thought about it, the lightning spell she did yesterday probably didn't help either. That used a lot of magic and it could've strengthened her magic signature enough to indicate which mark was her.

Until she could get that necklace replaced, Bonnie needed to limit her use of magic. Unfortunately, that might be difficult since they were about to try and rescue Elena. For that, she would definitely need her magic. There was no doubt this Morgan Blackwater witch would be problematic, especially if she was as clairvoyant as people say. Bonnie should be able to handle her though, and once she did, Damon would be reunited with the love of his life and live happily ever after while she would be left to deal with her past coming back to haunt her.

Damon sat behind the wheel beside her, his focus on driving.

Bonnie tried not to think back to earlier that morning and failed. The dream was still fresh in her mind, and if she thought about it hard enough, echoes of his touch would reverberate against her body, a phantom of unfulfilled desire threatening to make itself known. If she closed her eyes, she could imagine the feel of her chest crushed against his, his fingers digging into the flesh of her hips, the perceivable dark promise in his eyes.

An unbidden shiver ran through her. That moment had been a dangerous temptation, and Bonnie was right to put a stop to it, but afterwards, she, like Damon, had guiltily gotten herself off to the thought of what might've happened if she hadn't.

Reliving that memory in her dreams, Bonnie had gotten caught up in the moment, but there was no excuse. She'd been subconsciously aware of what was happening, and she could have stopped it sooner, but she let herself get carried away like an idiot. However, when his lips closed around hers, it was like a bucket of cold water had been dumped over her head. No matter how much her body wanted him, her mind screamed that him kissing her wasn't supposed to happen, and she reacted.

But in that last second, Bonnie could've sworn she had felt something _more_ and it scared her.

It had been as if an explosion was about to go off inside her, but she extinguished the fuse in the nick of time. Or maybe it was her imagination being overactive. It was only a dream in the end, and that particular dream may be based on reality but dreams themselves aren't real. What she felt could've been a figment of her imagination or it could've even been Damon projecting.

After all, he seemed bent on making her acknowledge the attraction between them. More than that, he wanted that acknowledgement to be physical. He may not have said it directly, but he wanted her to kiss him in the hopes it would lead to far more. Bonnie wasn't stupid. The desire she felt from him ran deep, deeper than he probably knew. This wasn't exactly a passing infatuation with her. He still wanted her the way he wanted her in the dream, which meant he wanted to fuck her.

Well that was not happening. Not in this lifetime, not while he was still with Elena. Bonnie was not about to play second to anyone anymore. Even if he was right, and Bonnie knew there was something between them, she would deny it until the day she died because she had nothing to gain from admitting it. Still, when he called her a professional at denial, that struck a chord. A few years ago, someone once told her she was in denial when it came to Damon, and she had teetered on the edge of acknowledging there had been some feelings there then, but Bonnie was stubborn. She couldn't bring herself to accept that she was stupid enough to feel that strongly for him.

She could, however, admit there was a physical attraction. Damon oozed sexuality from every pore, and Bonnie wasn't immune no matter how much she wanted to be. The moment she first saw him, she found his features appealing. From his tall lean muscular frame to his jawline to his dark hair and those blue eyes. There was a small part of her, in the deep recesses of her consciousness, that wondered what it would be like to have his hands sliding across her skin, slipping underneath her shirt and running along her bare back while she rode him into the ground. But Bonnie forced herself to suppress those sorts of imaginings.

At the same time though, she allowed herself to wonder about the dream. What she felt in it was based on memory, but if it had been reality, would it have been different? Would she have felt more?

"What are you thinking?" His voice cut through her thoughts.

She was unaware that she'd been staring at him, and Bonnie looked away. "Nothing."

After a brief silence, he spoke again to Bonnie's dismay. "So this woman who's trying to kill you," Damon started, "How long has she been after you?"

Bonnie sighed. She would really rather not talk about this. "A few months."

"Before or after you became a vampire."

"Before." She turned to look outside the window at the passing scenery. At some point it had become nothing but desert and desert foliage.

"Was she the one who killed you?"

"No. That person is already dead."

He was silent for a moment.

"You must've really pissed her off if she's been chasing you for months."

"Damon please, I don't want to talk about it."

Of course he didn't listen. Damon always arbitrarily picked and chose when he would respect her privacy. "I've never seen you that scared before." He glanced at her, and she met his eyes. There was uncharacteristic worry in them. "And if you're that afraid of her-

"I don't need you to worry about me. I'm handling it."

His brow furrowed at her as he frowned. "Running away is handling it?"

Bonnie's mouth tightened into a thin line. "Let it go, Damon."

Finally, he let the conversation die, but Bonnie knew he hadn't let it go. He cared about her too much to let it go. When Bonnie fed from him earlier, she could tell that and much more, but that was another thing she would rather not think about. The things she felt from him the last time she drank his blood had been overwhelming, though for all she knew he could've been thinking about Elena, about how much he missed her, how much he longed for her, and how much he needed her. What she felt underneath all that, the intense raw longing, Bonnie hadn't been sure what it was for when she fed from him yesterday, but today, she understood.

Damon wanted more than anything to be loved.

This was not a surprise. It was fundamental, and he grew up with both mommy and daddy issues equal to if not worse than her own. But vampires experienced emotions more deeply than humans, and that ache was so profound in Damon, it almost made her cry, and it resonated with her more than she would ever admit.

Bonnie did not want to experience that again, so she called someone who might know a spell to block whatever was happening when she fed from him. Unfortunately, they had never heard of a vampire being able to sense another vampire's emotions when they fed from them, and it was suggested that Bonnie was somehow tapping into their connection because it was so strong or unconsciously siphoning his feelings alongside the magical energy in his blood. Bonnie liked the latter explanation better, but in the end, she was told she would have to come up with something on her own.

That was near impossible. It was already hard enough to restrain herself in the throes of bloodlust without concentrating on formulating a spell, so enduring it was likely her best option. Besides, they would finally rescue Elena soon, and then she wouldn't have to deal with the issue at all anymore.

* * *

It was a little after two o'clock in the afternoon when they arrived at the location.

Before they got out the car, Bonnie fed from Damon one last time. She tried her best to ignore what she felt from him, and when she finished, she let his wrist go and licked her lips of his blood. Bonnie lifted her head and they were close enough that the top of her head brushed underneath his chin. They stared at one another, then he raised a thumb to the corner of her mouth wiping a bit of his leftover blood, but his thumb lingered at the edge of her lips, extending to brush along the edge of them.

Damon's gaze went dark, his thoughts clearly veering where they shouldn't, but she had the sense to ease herself back from him and end the moment. Leaning her head back against the headrest, Bonnie sighed. After a second, she pulled on the door handle and exited the car. Damon got out as well and he went straight to the trunk to get a blood bag.

Once his energy was replenished, they looked around. There was nothing but desert for miles.

"Should we split up?" Bonnie wondered aloud.

"With enemies possibly around, we should probably stick together." Damon said.

They combed the desert, but there appeared to be nothing, no buildings, no anything. Two hours later a frustrated Bonnie was two seconds from giving up until she sensed something.

"Wait," Bonnie said eyeing the empty space in front of her. She held out a hand, " _Phantasmos oculacs_ ," she spoke. The air shimmered as the area of the desert in front of her was uncovered.

A rectangular off white single floored building stood before them with no windows and a flat roof surrounded by piping. There was a single door with a security camera above it and in front of that door stood two men. Like a guard, one stood directly beside the door with a shotgun strapped to his back. There was no doubt in Bonnie's mind that the gun was for vampires, and probably shot shells with wooden pellets in them. His eyes were trained on them, and he had one hand already on the gun. The other man looked to have been waiting for them, but he held no gun and merely stood in front of the building with his hands idly in his pockets.

At the sight of them, the man in front of the building removed his hands from his pocket and mockingly clapped his hands. "Congratulations. You found us."

"Where's Morgan?"

"She's busy, and we both know talking is not exactly what you want to do. She's seen this coming and she knows what you're here for. She sent me to tell you that you're not getting her. But you'll be happy to know that Elena is cooperating with us of her own free will."

What?

Bonnie could feel Damon tensing at her side. "You expect us to believe that?"

He shrugged. "She is whether you believe it or not."

"Then let us see her," Bonnie asked.

"Not possible."

"Why not?"

"Morgan's orders. You're not authorized to enter unless you're involved in the research experiment."

"Surely she can make an exception. Since she knew we were coming, she should know what's going to happen if we don't at least see that Elena is safe."

"No exceptions."

Damon stepped forward and the man with the shotgun swiftly pulled it off his back and pointed it at him. Bonnie flexed her fingers at her side. So much for waiting for Stefan and Caroline. She and Damon looked at one another and with one nod from him, they both moved at the same time.

Damon went for the man with the shotgun, and Bonnie went for the other. Immediately, Bonnie felt pain spread throughout her body as the man cast a spell, and while it may have been strong enough to debilitate a witch, it wasn't strong enough for a vampire. Bonnie grabbed him by the throat in the blink of an eye.

With her other hand stretched towards him, she called out a spell to restrain him. " _Subicite sui motus._ " He went limp in her grasp and she let him fall to the ground, immobile.

Bonnie heard the loud sound of a shotgun go off and she looked to Damon. It seemed like it missed as Damon was still busy trying to maneuver himself around the man without being shot. Then another gunshot went off as Damon managed to get his hands on the gun and ripped it from his grasp. He threw it to the ground and began to choke the man until he crushed his spine at the neck. As he choked him, Bonnie went towards the shotgun and picked it up. She pointed it at the one still alive who was still under her spell. She could feel him resisting it, trying to regain movement so she used the butt of the gun to knock him unconscious.

Above the door, Bonnie noticed the camera and dragged his prone body across the red sand, positioning him on the ground in view of it. She dug the barrel of the shotgun into the back of his head while looking up at the camera. Damon came to stand beside her.

"Let us have Elena or he dies."

In her head, Bonnie counted the seconds, and on the fifth one, she heard two doors open, the one in front of her and another further away that must've been along the side of the building. Out the front came a man and a woman this time and from the side of the building came three more men dressed in black in a way not unlike those who had attacked the mansion in Kansas. These had visible hunter tattoos more than what the usual Venator Bonnie had encountered, and each of them had guns pointed at both Bonnie and Damon.

Bonnie stared at the man and the woman who had come out the front. At first she focused on the woman, quickly determining that this was not Morgan, but someone else. This woman was an average looking fair-skinned woman with brown hair and brown eyes. She wore a long white lab coat and had her arms folded across her chest as if she had better things to be doing.

When Bonnie's eyes went to the man beside her, she did a double take.

"Jeremy?" He was sporting a stubble and a lot more muscle than when she last saw him, but his eyes were unmistakable.

"Bonnie." He nodded at her, then did the same to Damon whose eyes had turned to ice the moment he recognized him. "You shouldn't have come."

"What the fuck Gilbert? You're involved in this!?" Damon practically growled. He started to walk towards him, but Bonnie grabbed his forearm, halting him. She eyed the three other men who had guns on them before her gaze returned to Damon.

"Let me do the talking," she told him in a quiet voice. "Please," she added.

Clenching his jaw, Damon forced himself to relax, and Bonnie let go of his arm.

Her attention returned to Jeremy. "What are you doing here?" Bonnie asked.

He ignored her question and answered one that hadn't been asked yet. "I know you're here because of Elena, and she's completely fine. I wouldn't let them hurt my own sister."

"I'm sorry Jeremy, but things are not adding up here. If Elena is fine, then why can't we see her? If we can't go in, then why can't she come up and tell us she's fine? Is she even awake or is she still under the spell?"

"She's awake. They managed to break the spell."

" _They_ managed to break the spell?"

"Yes, I don't know how, but…"

"Then why can't we see her?"

He sighed. "They're in the middle of collecting more of her blood."

"How long has she been here?"

"For about three weeks."

Bonnie was turned three months ago. This meant that Kai's spell was actually foolproof, and Bonnie did have to be truly dead in order for Elena to wake up, but how had the spell been broken? She supposed that was a question for Morgan Blackwater. "I don't understand. If you've been helping her, then why did she kill Tyler?"

Jeremy paused at that. "Tyler's dead?"

"Tyler was killed three weeks ago by a witch and a hunter. That witch was Morgan Blackwater. I thought she might've gone after him for the location of Elena's coffin, but with you here, wouldn't she have known?"

Jeremy's mouth became a hard line as he stared at Bonnie. "I was never told the exact location of Elena's coffin, and I didn't ask because I didn't want Alaric to suspect me once it went missing. Morgan told me she would handle it, but I didn't expect…" He trailed off. "Is it really true that Tyler's dead? How can you be sure it was Morgan when you've never even met her?"

"If you don't believe me, then maybe you should call Matt and ask him how the funeral was. As for how I know it was Morgan with the hunter that killed him, I did a spell that showed me Tyler's final moments."

"Just because the hunter killed him does not mean Morgan is behind it."

Bonnie shook her head. "I saw her give the order, Jeremy. How well do you even know this woman? How long have you been working with her?"

"This is pointless," Damon chimed in. "Can't you tell Bonnie? He's either brainwashed or pussy-whipped."

Jeremy glared at him.

"Ignore him. If you let us in to see her, we'll promise we'll behave Jeremy."

"See," Jeremy took a step towards them. "I want to believe you Bonnie, but when I look at you, I get the same urge to kill that I get when I look at Damon. I didn't want to believe it at first, but my senses don't lie. You're a vampire, and I don't trust vampires, even if that vampire is you. And I especially don't trust the one beside you."

Bonnie stared at the tattoo winding up his arm, and her eyes narrowed. "You're their leader aren't you, the leader of the hunter group, the Venators?"

"One of them," he admitted.

Bonnie shook her head. "I should've known." She stared up at him, her gaze hardening as she pushed the barrel of the shotgun back against the unconscious man's head. "If you don't let us in, I'll kill him, and them." She nodded over to the men off to the side who still had their guns on her and Damon.

She could do it. It's just the woman standing silently beside him was a wild card. If she was a witch, Bonnie had no idea what spells she might pull out of her hat.

"I don't want you to die, nor do I want Damon to die either. Elena would be devastated."

"Then let us see her," Damon said.

He shook his head. "I can't do that." Jeremy stepped towards her. "Put down the gun, Bonnie."

"Do you think I won't do it?"

Jeremy took another step and motioned to the men off to the side. They moved a step towards them as well and Bonnie tensed further. Jeremy stood about four feet in front of her. She kept half her focus on him and half her focus on the men off to the side, gathering her magic at her fingertips. "Another step and he's dead."

Bonnie could tell Jeremy didn't believe her, didn't think her capable. Slowly, his foot moved to take another step while he eyed her gun, and she saw it in his eyes. He planned to disarm her, but before he could move for the gun, Bonnie pulled the trigger.

Many things happened at once. Blood and brains splattered, landing on her face and clothes and Jeremy shouted for the others not to shoot while Bonnie raised a hand to the left of her where the men stood, sending an invisible force in their direction, knocking them off their feet. She raised her gun to Jeremy, and before the other men could get back on their feet, Damon stole one of their guns and held another one of them hostage, positioning him as a shield against the other two.

"How are you still capable of doing spells?" Jeremy asked her.

"You should worry more about your life."

"I know you Bonnie. You wouldn't kill me."

Bonnie looked down at the ring on his finger that protected him from supernatural death. "Are you willing to bet your life on that?"

He sighed. "Why can't you trust me?"

"Why can't you trust me?" Bonnie fired back.

The sound of a sigh came from a few feet behind him. "Alright. This has gone on long enough," the woman said. She hadn't moved the entire time, and Bonnie had almost forgotten about her. "Incapacitate all of them. Blackwater's orders," she said to the other men.

"No wait!" Jeremy said, but it was too late. Ignoring the man Damon used as a shield, they shot the hand Damon was using to hold the gun with near perfect accuracy, and as the gun fell, the man in Damon's grasp escaped. Once he was clear, they put two more bullets into Damon's stomach and left leg. Damon doubled over in pain, and Bonnie could hear a sizzling sound that told her the bullets were coated in vervain. The moment, she took her attention off Jeremy to help Damon with magic, she knew he would be on her so she should've shot Jeremy, and her finger had gone to the trigger to do so, but he was right. She couldn't bring herself to do it, so Bonnie raised the shotgun to the woman behind him instead, but by then it was too late. "Shoot me," she said. "And we'll make sure to kill him." Damon was hauled upright with three guns on him and one pointed at his heart.

Jeremy's hands balled into fists at his sides. "What are you doing, Alex? I was handling it," he said to the woman.

"No you weren't. And Morgan told me she wants them captured."

He frowned. "That's not what she told me."

"Don't you want them to be cured too? She's getting close to figuring out how to preserve it, once we figure out a way to nullify the aging effects and synthesize it, she can cure the both of them from vampirism, and your little friends will thank us for this."

"I don't want them to be a part of the experiment."

Her expression changed, and Bonnie could see the impending betrayal before Jeremy did. "Too bad."

She pulled out a tranquilizer gun and shot Jeremy before he could react. When she turned the gun on Bonnie, Bonnie knocked it out of her hands with a jerk of her head, and she fired off the shotgun in her direction. She managed to avoid being hit as she scrambled for the gun, but the sound of another gun being cocked made Bonnie pause. She looked over to where Damon stood with a gun being pressed into to his heart. She stared at the man with the gun, and the implication was clear in his eyes. If she moved again, he would kill Damon.

Her gaze dropped to Damon whose expression was a combination of fury and pain. Slowly, Bonnie lowered the gun in her hands, and turned to glower at the woman. "Good choice." She sneered. The woman leveled the tranquilizer with Bonnie's heart and shot a dart that landed in the center of Bonnie's chest. Seconds later, she could feel her mind descend to darkness.

* * *

Bonnie woke up to the sight of bright fluorescent lights above her. It took a second for her eyes to adjust, but when they did, she had an eerie sense of déjà vu. Just as when she woke up in Dr. Ross' lab, her body was heavy and her senses dulled. She was also strapped down to a stretcher, and she could feel the IV drip attached to her arm. This time, however, she was still in her clothes.

With some effort, Bonnie managed to turn her head and she saw a woman sitting on a stool beside her. The woman was pale with waist-length black hair pulled into a low pony tail, and her eyes were an unkind brown. She, like the woman who shot her, wore a lab coat with black pants and a white button-up underneath. This had to be Morgan Blackwater.

Her thin lips turned up at the corners in an ominous smile. "It's good to finally meet you Bonnie. My name is Morgan Blackwater, but I'm sure you already knew that since I heard you've been looking for me. It's been a few days since you've been here, and I've been running some tests on you and your blood, and even though my intuition is telling me that you're dangerous and I should keep you under sedation, my curiosity insisted I wake you so I can ask a few questions."

From what Bonnie could tell, she was in a room by herself. "Where's Damon?"

"He's fine. I haven't done anything to him… yet. But his safety depends on your cooperation."

Bonnie blinked, her eyes heavy. "What do you want to know?"

"Well, I've tested your blood and taken a look at your DNA. The latter has the usual indicators of vampirism, but magic-wise there was something slightly different that I had never seen before. I suppose I expected something to be different because I saw you on the security footage, and I know you can use magic despite being a vampire. I didn't, however, expect just how different it would be. Anyway, I came up with a few theories, and after testing them, I discovered that you have the ability to absorb magic though I have yet to determine exactly which gene codes for it. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I've theorized that when you were a human, you were only able to absorb magic from other sources of magic. Then when you were turned, you became able to absorb magic from yourself because of the inherent magic present in every vampire. Am I right?"

"Yes." If she already knew that much, Bonnie saw no use in denying it.

"Fascinating," she looked excited. "Were you also able to produce magic on your own when you were human?"

"Yes, until I lost it."

"Explain to me how you reacquired it."

"That's a long story," Bonnie started, "and I'll tell you, but first I want to see Damon."

She was quiet for a moment, then she closed her eyes. A few seconds later, she opened them. "You will try to escape if I have him brought here. You will wait for me to get close, absorb my magic, then use that energy to release yourself and kill me."

They weren't lying about her clairvoyance. "Can you see how uncooperative I'll be if you don't?"

She closed her eyes again, then almost immediately opened them. "Unfortunately, my clairvoyant abilities can be quite unpredictable. The closer you are to me, the easier it is for me to see a future involving you, but sometimes, especially with witches, it doesn't work, and I only get a strong intuition. In order to use it properly or to see into the far future, I have to use a spell, but that particular spell uses energy I don't want to spare right now." Her grin widened. "I am grateful for this ability though. It allowed me to see how beneficial it would be to only take Elena and leave your friend's coffin behind. When I touched it, I had a premonition that he would lead me to you, and that you would be important to my research. This is all beside the point, however. We have other ways to coerce you into cooperation."

"If you torture me, you'll find out exactly how stubborn I can be. I promise, if you bring him, I won't try anything."

She paused, her expression falling as her stare became intense. There was no indication as to what she might be thinking. "Alright then."

She stood up from the stool beside Bonnie's stretcher and made a call to someone, instructing them to bring up the other vampire they'd just captured.

"It'll be a minute or so, but in the meantime I should mention there was something else I discovered," she paused. "I'm sure you know that every witch's magic is different. It's coded in the same place on your DNA, but the gene that determines whether you are a witch has many different forms. Those of the same bloodline will have similar forms which reflect their familial relation. This is why some spells can only be undone by witches of the same bloodline. But what I want you to explain to me is why when I looked at different samples of your DNA, I found three very different forms of these genes. A normal witch will only have one, but it's almost as if three bloodlines exist inside of you."

There was a good thirty seconds of silence as Bonnie gathered her thoughts. She had been planning on lying about some things, but it seemed she already knew too much.

Before Bonnie could speak, Damon was wheeled into the room, strapped to a stretcher the same way Bonnie was only he was still under sedation. Eyes closed, he looked to be asleep and thankfully he looked relatively unharmed. The bullets he took had been removed, and his clothes, unlike Bonnie's, had been removed and replaced with a plain white shirt and white pants. The man who brought him in nodded at Morgan, then left.

"Now that you know what I know, let's start at the beginning of how you reacquired your powers because I'm sure the two are connected." She stood up and walked over to a drawer, pulling out a bone saw. "And to make things interesting, for every unsatisfactory or half truthful answer you give, I'll cut off one of his limbs when he wakes up." She looked at a clock hanging on the wall. "You have about twenty minutes before that happens, so I suggest you start talking."

Bonnie's gaze moved from Damon back to Morgan, and with a grimace, she began to talk. Vowing to kill Morgan when she escaped, Bonnie started at the beginning and told her everything.

* * *

 **A/N: Lots of explanations in this chapter, and as I was writing, I found myself trying to dodge a minefield of possible plot holes, but hopefully, everything I wanted to explain in this chapter and the sciencey magic stuff comes across alright.**

 **As always, thanks for reading! And thanks to those who left reviews last time!**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

 _Bonnie sighed. "I feel like I'm insane."_

 _"You're not insane, Bon," she said softly. "You were in love."_

* * *

Damon opened heavy eyelids. His entire body was weighted, an effect of whatever drug they gave him before they transported him to this room. Attempting to move, he found himself still barely able, partially because of the drugs, partially because restraints still restricted his arms and legs.

When Damon first woke up, he was in a room by himself. The vervain bullets had been removed from him and his body had healed, but he was strapped to a stretcher and his own clothes were gone, replaced with a white shirt and pants. A minute later, before he could even open his mouth, a man appeared with a syringe full of clear liquid and injected it into his arm. The effect was instant. Damon succumbed to darkness, then woke up for a second time in this room.

Blinking until his blurred vision cleared and his eyelids were less heavy, he took in his new surroundings. Once again, he was in a room with white walls and white tiled floors, but this one was less empty. There was a counter across the room in front of him with cabinets above and below it, and a metal door in the middle of the wall to the right of him. A few feet away to the left of him, Bonnie lay strapped to her own stretcher while she stared at the ceiling, looking upset.

"Good, you're awake." Damon heard a voice behind him, then footsteps as the source of the voice came to stand where he could see her. This had to be Morgan. She was a near spitting image of the picture from Dr. Ross' office, only her appearance was older. His attention lowered to the bone saw she held in her gloved hands, and he watched as she placed it in the groove between Damon's forearm and bicep.

Damon looked from the saw to the woman's face, confused. "You can blame her for this."

Bonnie turned to stare at him. "I'm sorry," she said.

The woman held down on his forearm with one hand and began to saw into his arm at a slow pace with the other. As his skin sizzled and the pain hit him, Damon quickly discovered the saw had been coated with vervain. He tried to withstand the pain, but once she pierced through the skin to his muscle, it became too much for him to handle. He clenched his teeth hard, trying not to scream at the pain as he tried to move away from her. Between her grip and being strapped down, however, it was useless.

She did not stop until his entire forearm was severed, and Damon was laying there bleeding out, grimacing.

Morgan turned to Bonnie, and leaned in close to her with a menacing look on her face. "This is what happens when you don't answer me, so I suggest you don't-"

A knock at the door interrupted her.

She leaned back from her. "Enter."

Through the door came the woman from before. Alex, Jeremy had called her. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but there's something that needs your attention."

"This better be important." She took off her now bloody surgical gloves and threw them in the trash. With one last look at both Bonnie and Damon, she left the room.

Once she was gone, Damon looked over at Bonnie with his brows furrowed and a frown across his face. "Why did I just wake up to my arm being cut off?" He could feel his connected limb begin to heal from the vervain and the itch of his bones and muscles wanting to reconnect to his forearm.

"She threated to cut off one of your limbs every time I withheld information from her or lied, and I was going to tell her everything, but I'm sorry Damon, when I figured out what she wanted, I couldn't let her have it."

"And what does she want that's worth me losing a limb over?"

"She's not just working on the cure to vampirism. Remember how there have been missing witches and werewolves too. Well they're here, and while she wants to cure the werewolves, what she wants to do with witches is something entirely different. She told me, in so many words, that she was interested in the transference of power, and revealed that in order to fight stronger vampires, she wants to create more powerful witches by absorbing the magic of other witches and binding that power inside another witch or maybe even someone like a hunter permanently.

"Unfortunately, I just happen to know a spell that may allow her to do that, but it's dangerous because it doesn't only take the witch's power, but the essence of the witch as well, meaning that they would die, and I can't let her do that. I won't let any more witches die to that spell, especially not in order to further her insane ideas." Bonnie had a fierce look in her eyes as she said that, and Damon knew she meant it.

He blew out a long breath. "What now then? Do you have a plan to get out of here because I sure as hell don't?"

She looked back at the ceiling. "I did, but she apparently can see the future to an extent, and she figured it out, so the chances of that working are slim. Still, what she's given me is more than enough to inhibit a powerful witch, but even that much is underestimating me. I can still feel a small speck of magic that I can pull on, but it's so small that I don't want to use it until our chances of escape are better."

"So we're waiting for the rescue party then."

She nodded her head. "It's been a few days according to Morgan, so I'm hoping it won't be long before—"

Bonnie went quiet as Morgan came back through the door with Alex behind her. By this time, Damon's arm had almost healed completely. "As much as I would love to sit here and torture him in front of you all day, I have other things to do, and I now know you won't talk no matter what I do to him." She turned to Alex. "Take her down to level four to be studied."

Morgan turned to Damon. "Have long have you been alive?"

He glared at her. "Long enough."

She merely smirked. "I suppose we'll find out. Use him for the next batch of cure transfer tests, and we'll see if he ages to his death or not," she glanced at Bonnie. "Perhaps he might be spared if you decide to tell me how the spell works." Rolling back her coat sleeve, she looked at a watch on her wrist. "I'll give you about eight hours to decide."

Morgan left. Then without another word, Alex rolled Bonnie's stretcher towards the door. Their eyes remained on one another until she could no longer look in his direction. And Damon was left alone in the room until another person, the same man who brought him in, came in to wheel him off elsewhere.

The man propped open the door as he pushed Damon's stretcher out into a long hallway. The walls were gray, and the floors were a white tile that matched the inside of the room he just left. They passed by a few more metal doors until they were in front of the elevator at the end of the hallway. The man walked around Damon's stretcher to push the button.

"So I don't suppose you could tell me what exactly the cure transfer test entails?" Damon asked him while they waited for the elevator.

He didn't respond, didn't even look at Damon.

The elevator arrived.

"Not much of a talker, huh?"

There was no response to that either.

He pushed him into the spacious elevator, then pressed the button for the third basement level. The elevator doors closed, and it began to descend. They were on the second floor, so the ride was quick and when the doors opened Damon was pushed down the hallway, then through a door that led to another hallway, then another, and about two more after that. They stopped in front of a room at the end of the last hallway which opened to reveal a long row of cells filled with vampires.

They passed about ten cells with ten vampires in varying states of misery before the man stopped in front of an empty one, then came around and opened it. He proceeded to undo the restrains around Damon, and when they were all undone, Damon tried to force himself to move and kill the man, but thanks to the drugs, his body was too heavy. He could barely move his leg an inch before the man grabbed him by both his arms and dragged him off the stretcher and into the cage.

Dropping Damon's arms, he left him laying in the middle of the floor. Then, stepping over him, he exited the cage and locked it behind him. After that, he and the stretcher disappeared back out the door he came through.

Damon looked over at the vampires beside him. On one side was a dark-haired man who looked to be in his early thirties. On the other side was another man who looked like he was in his twenties but had an unnatural streak of gray running through his brown hair.

"Welcome to hell, my friend" he said, staring at Damon. "You have a name?"

"Damon."

"I would say it's nice to meet you, but considering the circumstances…," he trailed off, then introduced himself. "I'm Harry. The miserable guy on the other side of you is Eric."

Damon tried to roll onto his side and use his arms to push himself up into a sitting position, but his muscles strained at the effort. He eventually gave up and rolled back onto his back.

"I wouldn't push it. The drugs will wear off eventually."

"Right," Damon said, staring at the ceiling.

"So how did they get you?"

Damon hesitated to answer that. He didn't want to reveal that they had come here to rescue Elena. That would lead to questions he didn't want to answer. "Hunters caught me off-guard," he said instead. "How long have you been here?"

He shrugged. "A couple of months maybe, but I've lost track of time. Did they say what their plans were for you?"

"Something about a cure transfer test."

"Well you're lucky they didn't choose you for the Augustine Revival Project," Damon tensed at that name. "Every vampire a part of that eventually dies. At least with the Cure Project, there's a chance of you living if you're under a hundred years old," he paused, staring hard at Damon as if he could guess his age by looking at him, "Are you under a hundred?"

"What happens if you aren't under one hundred?"

"You die." Eric, the vampire on the other side of him, piped up.

Harry glared at Eric across Damon's cell. "Sadly, he's right. They've made progress on the cure. It just doesn't last and after a while, your body begins to revert to your real age." He touched the patch of gray in his hair. "I was turned at twenty-three, but I've been alive for fifty-two years, and two days ago I looked my age, even craved a hamburger instead of blood, but eventually I began to crave blood again and my appearance returned to what it was. The guy who used to be in your cell was 128 years old. A week or so ago, they gave him the injection. He began to age, but it didn't last long enough, and he reverted back. The next time, however, it lasted too long, and he died before he could revert. Morgan said the effects had to do with the way they were extracting the cure from the source-"

"The source?"

"She wouldn't tell me what it was, but the way she talks about it makes it seem as if it might be a person."

Damon narrowed his eyes. "You sound like you're friendly with her."

He shrugged. "I've found resisting to be futile. If you're cooperative, they treat you a little better, and Morgan likes to talk if you make it seem like you're actually interested in her research." He paused. "How old did you say you were again?"

"I didn't, but I'm well over a hundred years old. 183 to be exact."

A sympathetic look crossed his face as Harry backed away from the bars between them and leaned back against the wall. "Well… let's hope they fix the aging problem with the next round of injections. That's probably unlikely though."

Damon turned to stare back at the ceiling. He had witnessed Katherine age after the cure had been sucked out of her, and that experience hadn't looked like fun. Stefan and Caroline better hurry up.

Thirty minutes or so later, when the drugs finally wore off and Damon was able to sit up and lean against the wall, a man came in with a tray full of small cups of blood. "Backs against the wall," he said, and Damon watched the others move into a position not unlike his own. They started at the other end of the room and worked their way down, so it took a while before they got to Damon. When they placed the cup through the bars and moved down to Eric, he reached for the cup of blood and stared at it.

It reminded him of when he was captured by the Augustine Society, trapped in a cage next to Enzo. They gave them about the same amount of blood, just enough to keep them from desiccating, just enough to keep them weak and unable to fight back. He grimaced as he drank the blood, trying to push those thoughts away. That was a time in his life that he didn't like to think about, but this situation was too similar to that one, and the memories were resurfacing.

After the man handing out blood left, Damon said aloud, "Any of you ever think about giving all of the rations to only one of us?"

"Yeah," Eric answered in a solemn voice. "We've thought of that, and as soon as we tried it, they could tell, and they stopped giving us blood for a while. There's also that," he motioned up to the corner of the ceiling where a camera was watching them, "to worry about, so I wouldn't even try to escape."

Damon leaned his head back against the wall, trying to come up with another possibility. The woman they met at the party said she managed to bite someone who got careless, but what were the chances of that happening again.

Extremely slim, Damon would guess.

This meant he had to wait on Stefan and Caroline, but Damon was getting impatient. He stood up and began to pace, trying to block out the invasive memories of being tortured by the Augustine Society. He needed to focus on escape, because what if Stefan and Caroline didn't come? What if he ended up trapped here for years like he had been trapped in the past? What if they got captured too? Panic started to set in. He needed to come up with a plan to get him and Bonnie out of here and he needed to come up with one fast.

He couldn't come up with a solid one though. After hours of thinking, he was still at a loss on what to do. The only option, it seemed, was to wait for an opportunity, wait for one of them to mess up and take advantage. Still, that took time, and Damon wasn't sure how much time he had left.

A few more hours passed with Damon either imagining possible ways to escape or listening to Harry ramble on about his life. He discovered Harry used to be a firefighter before he was accidentally turned one night after leaving a bar. At first, he hated being a vampire, but he liked the idea of living forever so he adapted to the lifestyle. He was feeding with a friend in some random small town outside Indianapolis when he was caught by the hunters. They killed the friend but kept him. And at first, when they brought him here, he tried to fight back against them, but he came to the conclusion that his best chance of getting out of there is compliance and hoping that the cure actually eventually works because surely they would let him go once he was human again.

He was too optimistic for Damon's liking, but Damon kept his opinion to himself.

An indeterminable number of hours past, and Damon was quietly sitting on the ground while someone a few cages down hummed a song he had never heard before. Seconds later, the doors swung open and a canister was thrown into the room, releasing a gas. He tried to block the gas from entering his mouth and nose, but that was impossible.

Beside him, Harry sat relaxed, but with a frown on his face. "The unlucky ones are about to get taken for an experiment," he explained.

Shit, Damon thought as he felt himself losing consciousness. Maybe he had even less time than he thought.

* * *

Damon awoke in another white room. He was strapped down to a stretcher again and his body had the same heavy feeling it had when he'd woken up in the room next to Bonnie. He couldn't move. Beside him, there were two other vampires, one he didn't recognize, but the other was Eric. Glancing around, he saw that woman, Alex, over by a counter across the room, preparing a couple of syringes full of red liquid.

While she did so, another man in a lab coat entered the room, the door lingering open behind him before it closed on its own. He held a clipboard in his hand and was writing something on a piece of paper. "Are the new injections ready to be administered?" He asked Alex.

"Give me a moment," Alex said.

Damon could see her change the needle on the syringes. When she was finished, Alex nodded at the man beside her who was still taking notes on the clipboard and he nodded back. She turned around to face the vampires.

She held a syringe in her hand filled with a red liquid that looked like blood. "This," she spoke to all of them, "is our new prototype of the cure to vampirism. I'm sure you've heard about the possible side effects from some of the others, but we've been working on improving that so the magic does not dissipate, and the older vampires might survive." She looked at Damon specifically after saying "older vampires" and he wondered if she somehow knew his age.

To Damon's dismay, she walked around to his stretcher first, and smirked at him as she pushed out the last of the air bubbles from the syringe. She turned it around, aiming the needle at his neck. If this didn't work, he knew it would be a matter of time before he aged and possibly died, but luck was on his side because before she could pierce his neck with the needle, a scalpel came out of nowhere and stabbed the man in his neck while Alex was pulled back by an invisible force.

That invisible force snapped her neck in an instant before turning into his brother. Never had Damon been happier to see his broody face. "What took you so long?" Damon asked him.

"We had to get help." Beside the dead man was a woman who must have been the witch behind the invisibility spell. She looked to be in her mid to late thirties and had blonde hair that was cut into a wavy bob. Her green eyes that stared at him coolly as Stefan began to undo his restraints.

"Who is she?" He asked Stefan.

"A friend of Bonnie's," she said vaguely before she began to move around the room, opening cabinets as she searched for something.

"Where's vampire barbie? I assume she came with you."

"She's with Lucy, and they're looking for Elena."

"Lucy? You mean Lucy Bennett?" Damon hadn't heard that name in a while.

"Yeah," Stefan confirmed. "She's the only witch we knew who was willing to come at a moment's notice, but in her message containing the location, Bonnie sent us her number in case of emergency too." He pointed over at the other woman with his thumb. "When we weren't able to reach either of you after we landed, we figured that qualified as an emergency, so..."

"Found one." She opened a cabinet that was secretly a refrigerator and pulled out a blood bag. She threw it at Stefan, and Stefan held it out to Damon, but he couldn't move. "I can't move."

"Right." Stefan ripped open the bag and held it to Damon's mouth squeezing the contents down. Slowly, Damon could feel his strength returning.

"What about us?" Eric said, beside him.

"As a witch, the last thing I want to worry about right now is hungry vampires running around. We'll send someone back for you and the others."

Damon managed to sit up, but he still felt weak. The woman handed him another blood bag, and he downed it as fast as he could. Stefan watched the door. "We need to hurry up."

After the second blood bag, Damon was able to get to his feet, and they made their way out into the hall, but not before the woman searched Alex's body and grabbed a set of keys. Damon told them that Bonnie was supposed to be on the fourth level, but that he had no idea where Elena was while they headed to the elevator. Luckily, as they navigated through the labyrinth of a building, all was quiet. They made it to the elevator without attracting any attention, but while they waited for it, one of the doors opened, and a person came out into the hall. Stefan killed them before they could alert anyone else. Silently, he dragged the body into a nearby empty room and then ran back to the elevator. Once Stefan was inside, the woman took her finger off the hold door button and finally let the doors close.

They were on the second floor so the ride was short, but there was time.

"So how do you know Bonnie?" Damon asked the mysterious woman.

She glanced at him. "I taught her magic for a while."

"She was your student."

"She was, though now I consider her to be more like family."

Their conversation was cut short before the elevator doors opened, and they stepped out into another hallway similar to the one on the second level. They went slow, checking each room. Every one had a small window and they peeped through it, checking to see if a room was empty. If not, they sneaked in and killed whoever was inside. After a while, they came across a room full of people in cells not unlike the one he came from, only these weren't vampires.

These were witches, and there were about sixteen of them locked in cells. They looked no better off than the vampires, miserable and despondent. However, the moment they saw them and realized they weren't their captors, hope returned to their eyes, and they begged to be released.

"We should let them out so they can be gone before we deal with the vampires." The woman said, and she went through the keys, trying each one until she found the one that fit.

"We don't have time for that." Damon said, staring at witches.

"He's right," Stefan agreed.

Damon's eyes passed over every one of the cells, and he paused as the person in the cell at the end of the room caught his eye. It was Jeremy, and Damon walked over. When Stefan saw where Damon was headed, his eyes widened. "Is that Jeremy?"

"Yup." Damon stood in front of his cell with his arms folded across his chest. Jeremy looked up at him, half contrite, half angry.

Stefan motioned to the witch. "We need to get him out of here."

"No. Hold on. He's not going anywhere because it's his fault we're in this mess. Gilbert here has been working as a hunter with the people here. He's the whole reason the witch knew about Elena in the first place."

Jeremy ignored Damon, and turned to Stefan. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen, but I promise if you let me out Stefan, I'll make this right."

Damon stared at his brother. "We can't trust him."

Stefan looked between the two, then nodded at his brother. "Fine. We'll deal with Jeremy later."

Jeremy let out a long sigh and sat back from the bars.

Suddenly, an alarm blared. Either the bodies from earlier had been found or Caroline and Lucy had done something. In any case, someone knew there were intruders.

"I'm still releasing the others," the woman announced. "Can you fight your own way out?" She asked some of the people in the cages.

They nodded.

She found the key and opened the first door. "The more chaos we create right now anyway, the better," she argued before Damon or Stefan could protest. "Now watch the door," she ordered them. The brothers glanced at one another. It was clear she was doing this whether they helped or not. Stefan was the first to move, doing as she asked and Damon reluctantly followed. They stood guard while she opened their cell doors and there was a chorus of appreciation expressed for them, though most thanks went to the woman.

When all the cells except for Jeremy's were open, and the people were on their way out of there. They resumed their search. Damon could hear the heavy footsteps of men running down the hallways, and when they came upon a pair of men headed straight towards them with guns in hand, he and Stefan handled it with some help from the witch who knocked them back with a quick movement of her arm.

The next person they ran across was one of the scientists, a witch who tried to set Damon on fire. He could feel the flames painfully begin to engulf his body, but thankfully, the witch with them quickly cast _suctus incendia._ The flames died down, and his burns began to heal while Stefan and the woman took the man down.

They fought their way through, encountering two more scientist witches and four more hunters, until they finally found the room Bonnie was in. When they came in, she was on the floor, struggling to move, and her back was bare, the tattoo on display as she had been changed into something more like a hospital gown that was open in the back. Damon rushed towards her, picking up her petite body in his arms bridal style, and knowing she needed blood, he immediately brought her head close to his neck and encouraged her to bite. She did so, wrapping her left arm around the other side of his neck as she let out her fangs and sunk them into his artery. While she drank from him, he looked around. There was a metal table in the middle of the room with straps running along the sides. From what Damon could tell, it looked as if she had just released herself.

She lightly moaned against his neck, and Damon finally looked at Stefan who was watching Bonnie with a furrowed brow. It was easy to imagine the litany of questions running through his brother's head. "Bonnie's a vampire?" He said incredulously.

"Yeah, our little Bennett witch went and got herself killed."

He shook his head. "Caroline's going to flip her shit." He turned towards the witch who didn't look surprised in the slightest. "What the hell happened?"

"A lot," was all she said. "Too much to get into right now." Damon's eyed the woman. So she knew about what happened to Bonnie.

He gave Bonnie as much blood as he could without weakening himself too much. Then he eased Bonnie away from his neck and into a standing position. She licked her lips but didn't bother to wipe the excess blood around her mouth as she held on to Damon's arm, using him to keep her steady. Their eyes met. He saw the unsaid thanks in them, and nodded, then looked towards the witch and Stefan.

Bonnie followed his gaze and her eyes lit up at the sight of the woman, a genuine smile spreading across her face, more genuine than any of the few times he'd seen her smile since she woke him up. Damon felt his stomach tighten with something akin to jealousy at the sight. "I wasn't sure if you'd be able to come," Bonnie said.

"You've helped me so much over the years and you're like a second sister to me Bonnie. Of course I'd come if you called. I just wish you'd let us help you sooner." The woman walked towards Bonnie and they hugged one another, but after a second, Damon pulled Bonnie back into his side. "Considering the way Bonnie's been feeding lately, she's definitely still hungry, and I don't want her to bite you."

"Right, I almost forgot about that," the witch said, stepping back.

Bonnie turned to Stefan. "It's good to see you too."

"Yeah..." Damon could tell Stefan wanted to ask her about the circumstances surrounding her vampirism, but he held off. "It's good to see you too Bonnie. It's been too long."

She looked around the room. "When the alarm sounded, Morgan went off somewhere in a hurry. We need to find Elena and get out of here."

"Caroline and Lucy should be on it-"

He was cut off by a loud explosion that sounded off somewhere down the hall and all of them ran towards the sound. Stefan sped off first, and Damon and Bonnie followed with the other woman trailing behind them. They rounded a corner, then another corner where they could see part of the wall and a good portion of the ceiling had been blown off. There were dead hunters and scientists everywhere. And both Caroline and Lucy were on the ground hurt.

Caroline was clutching her stomach where she'd been shot with a stake and Lucy was on the ground, barely conscious.

"Lucy!" Bonnie let go of Damon and stumbled over to her cousin.

"Hey cuz," Lucy said faintly. Bonnie began to heal her right away and Damon watched the black lines of the triquetra tattoo on her back begin to glow as she used her powers, but he didn't have time to dwell on that.

Two more hunters came through the ceiling after them, but they were more skilled than the one's they had encountered before. They fought them alongside the other witch, but Stefan sustained a shot in his arm, and Damon was barely able to avoid being shot himself.

There was a pause in the fight where they stared one another down before Damon moved to charge at the one directly in front of him, but before Damon could reach him, the guy was knocked back by a powerful force. Behind him, Bonnie was on her feet, and she had her hands outstretched. The men moved to stand up, but Bonnie pushed them back down. Damon took the opportunity to kill one and moved to do so to the other, but the blonde witch had already handled it.

Damon took stock of their status. Lucy was back on her feet, but looked unsteady. She had one arm wrapped around Caroline who had managed to un-stake herself.

"Thank god you're alright, Bonnie," Caroline said.

Bonnie nodded at her, seemingly about to say something, but she abruptly closed her open mouth. The alarm was still blaring in the background. "We need to get to Elena."

Before the explosion happened, Caroline and Lucy had been through the entirety of the third floor and they couldn't find her, so that just left the rest of the fourth floor. They split into two groups and went in different directions. Damon stayed with Bonnie, and Stefan went with them while Caroline went with Lucy and the other witch whose name he still didn't know.

They searched through the rest of the fourth floor, and they found a few more people in lab coats, some witches, some not, who were trying to escape with their research. Killing them, they kept moving until they came upon the last door at the end of the last hallway.

Damon opened it and there she was. Elena was laid out on a bed, unconscious, with two IV bags that flowed into a line attached to her arm. Beside her bed was a frazzled looking Morgan who held a knife to Elena's neck.

"One more step, and I will kill her."

* * *

 **A/N: So I wanted Lucy to be alive because I hate the way they killed her off in the show, but you probably won't see too much of her after this. And I'm sorry if you thought you were going to get a full explanation of what's going on with Bonnie's power and why she has the blood of three different witches inside her in this chapter. Sadly, that's going to come a bit later, but in the next one, and probably the one after that, there will be more reveals regarding some things you've probably been curious about since the very beginning.**

 **Sorry for any mistakes, and thanks for reading!**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

 _Bonnie shook her head. "No, I wasn't in love. I don't know what it was, but it wasn't that."_

 _"Regardless, he did care about you, and you cared about him. If it wasn't love, then it was something close to it."_

* * *

"You wouldn't." Bonnie said, but the look in Morgan's eyes was nearing desperate.

"Try me," she threatened. "For the past hour, my powers haven't been working right. When I look into the future, I can see only one variation at a time, and since that alarm went off, I've looked into the future eight times and eight times I've seen my death. I don't know what it is. Usually I can change things, but there's a hole in my visions, something I can't see to stop what's coming. So if you want her to live, you're going to let me leave with her as insurance against you attacking me."

Focusing on her surroundings, Bonnie could hear the footsteps closing in on their room. The others would be here soon."Alright then. Go." She could feel Damon tense beside her, and Bonnie placed a hand on his arm.

Morgan's eyes traveled over Bonnie, Damon, and Stefan as she detached the IV lines from Elena's arm and began to push the bed. When she was past them, she maneuvered herself so that her back was to the door, and she reached behind her to open it with the hand that didn't have a knife to Elena's neck. With the door opened, Bonnie watched her carefully guide the bed through it, all without dropping her gaze from them, but before she could fully get through the door, Caroline came from behind and grabbed her, raising the arm that had the knife to Elena's neck. Wrenching the knife from her grasp, it dropped to the floor with a clang, and Stefan moved immediately, pulling Elena's bed out of the way. When the path to the doorway where Morgan stood was open, Bonnie and Damon sped towards her, but they were both stopped in their tracks, flinching when their heads burst into pain.

It seemed every vampire in the room was affected by the pain infliction spell she was using. All of them had doubled over with their palms clutching at their temples. Caroline had let go of Morgan, but Bonnie fought back against it. She rushed her at the same time Lucy did and they managed to break her concentration enough for the spell to stop. Lucy backed away as Bonnie shoved Morgan hard into the wall with one hand wrapped around her neck and the other pressed into her shoulder.

Before she or anyone else could do anything, Morgan shouted a powerful spell too quick for Bonnie to catch and her magic flared out, pushing all of them back. Bonnie was thrown back into the wall behind her, then suddenly, she felt almost dizzy, as if she was on the verge of losing consciousness. Everyone else aside from the witches seemed to be affected by whatever she'd done and were on the ground, barely moving, but Bonnie held on, forcing herself to stand back up.

Across the room from her, Morgan's nose began to bleed. The fact that she was using magic on all of them at once was a testament to her power as a witch, but she must've overexerted herself with that last spell. "I need to end this. I used far too much magic looking into the future earlier," Bonnie heard her mumble. While the others were still recovering from whatever that spell was, she went for Bonnie first, reaching her hand out and letting a tumble of Latin words fall from her mouth. Bonnie's was immobilized. It felt as if a claw was wrapping itself around her body, but before Bonnie could counter the effects, the spell was cut off at the source.

Her good friend and mentor had stabbed Morgan in the back with the same knife she'd held to Elena's neck.

Everything went quiet as Morgan looked down at her stomach where the tip of the knife had run through, then turned to see who stabbed her. She frowned. "You- You're the one I couldn't see. Why couldn't I see you?"

Pulling a charm from her pocket, she smirked. "That would be thanks to this. When Bonnie mentioned that you were clairvoyant, I borrowed an item from my brother that can cloak a person from seers and those with strong premonition abilities."

She came to stand beside Bonnie alongside Lucy. "Wait," Morgan begged, clutching at her stab wound and leaning against the wall as she bled out. "Please. All that I've worked for in the past fifteen years, how could you destroy this when the cure would be so beneficial to this world."

Bonnie shook her head. "The method matters, and you've done unforgivable things to people against their wills." She was well aware she was guilty of the same thing in the past, but at least she hadn't had hunters rounding up vampires, werewolves, and witches in order to indefinitely torture them with experiments until they died. That was an entirely different level of torture, one that Bonnie could never sink to for any reason, even the cure.

Morgan glowered at her. "How self-righteous of you. Every supernatural creature has been a plague upon this world since they were first created, especially vampires. A cure would've changed all that, would've made the world a better place."

That may be true, and once upon a time Bonnie might've agreed with her to an extent, but having so many vampire friends and being one herself, Bonnie knew this was not the way. Not all of them wanted to cause pain and havoc, and no one deserved to be tortured the way she had tortured them. "Some of us strive to be better."

Morgan shook her head. "It would've all been worth it"

"Maybe, but now you'll never find out."

Thanks to whatever drugs were in her system, Bonnie still wasn't at full strength, but she drew on her magic and focused on Morgan, inflicting pure agony upon her. Morgan screamed, and Bonnie felt both witches beside her place a hand on her shoulder, allowing her to draw strength from them as she sustained the spell until Morgan died from shock.

When Bonnie released the spell, she slouched over, tired, but Lucy caught her. "I've got you."

"Thanks," Bonnie looked up at her cousin, grateful.

With Morgan dead, all the other vampires seemed to be coming to from whatever she had done. It appeared to be a powerful spell specifically intended to affect vampires and knock them unconscious for a time. Bonnie almost wished Morgan was still alive to ask her how it worked, but what's done was done and good riddance.

Bonnie watched Damon waking up. His eyes found Morgan's dead body before they found hers, and she watched as they combed over her body. She supposed he was checking for any sign of injury, but outwardly, he would find nothing significant. On the inside, however, she was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to pass out.

"Are you alright?" He asked her.

"I'm fine." Bonnie looked over to where Elena rested on the bed. "We should get her out of here."

Damon followed Bonnie's gaze over to his girlfriend and went to carefully pick her up in his arms. Her slow pulse was beating strong, and it seemed to be only a matter of time before she woke up.

When everyone was on their feet and checked for injury, they headed straight to the elevator and made their way out into the night.

Exiting the building, fresh open air hit her nose and Bonnie breathed it in, grateful to be out of that hellhole. It looked as if the sun had recently set which was a good thing since Damon didn't have a daylight ring anymore.

"Who's going to handle the other prisoners we've left behind." Caroline pointed out.

"Right. We're going to have to deal with Jeremy too," Stefan said.

"What happened to Jeremy?" Bonnie asked.

"Before we found you, we found him locked in a cage alongside the witches there," Damon explained, slightly adjusting Elena's position in his arms.

Bonnie raised her eyebrows. "He's still there?"

"Yeah."

"Good," Bonnie approved. "Leave him to rot for all I care."

Caroline and Stefan looked at one another, obviously not expecting Bonnie to say that. "Stefan filled me in on what he did, but he's still Elena's brother. We can't just leave him down there." Caroline said.

Bonnie's blonde friend interjected. "Until you all decide what you want to do with him, I have some friends close by who can handle the rest of the vampires and the werewolves who were left down there."

Damon stared at her, a curious look on his face. "I'm sorry, but who exactly are you again? I didn't catch your name."

She glanced at Bonnie before she spoke. "You can call me Freya."

Before, when she had given Stefan and Caroline Freya's number, Bonnie had asked them not to tell Damon anything about who Freya was. She wanted him left in the dark, and they had agreed. Luckily, he had never met Freya before and had no idea who she was or what family she belonged to.

"Guys," Lucy interrupted. "If the prisoners are being handled, we should probably go ahead and get out of here."

"She's right, Caroline said. "I'll find us a good place nearby to regroup and send the rest of you the location."

Everyone dispersed and headed to different cars. Freya went in her own car, and Lucy went in hers. Caroline and Stefan also came in their own vehicle, and thankfully, Caroline suggested that Damon and Elena ride with her because they had more room in their truck, but seeing how exhausted Bonnie looked, Stefan volunteered to go with Bonnie and drive her car for her. Damon made no complaint, but he didn't look happy to be stuck in the same car as Caroline.

After they were in the car, Stefan was silent for all of a minute before he began to ask her about what he saw back at the facility. "So you're a vampire...who can do magic?"

"Yes. I'm a vampire and still a witch Stefan, and please don't ask me how it happened right now. I don't want to talk about it."

He raised his palms off the wheel in defeat. "Alright, we won't talk about it," he paused, "And I'm guessing you also don't want to talk about why you were feeding on Damon's blood then either?"

Bonnie sighed. "It's a long story, but there's a good reason for that."

"Right," he slightly drew out the word, glanced at her, then paused again. "So how are things between you two?"

"Peachy," Bonnie said sarcastically.

Stefan chuckled at her tone. "He seemed rather protective of you back there."

She shrugged. "Damon wants to get back in my good graces."

"An uphill battle, I'm sure."

Bonnie hummed in agreement. "A steep one, with no end in sight."

"For you, I think he'd keep fighting though."

She frowned. "What makes you say that?"

"Ever since you came back from 1994, I don't know what it is, but you and Damon have had this connection. He cares about you, and I saw how being around you began to make him a better person."

Bonnie snorted. "Putting aside the fact that he abandoned the both of us as evidence that he's not _that_ much of a better person, don't you mean Elena has made him better?"

He shook his head. "Maybe in some ways she gave him focus and provided a distraction from his darker urges, but that relationship has never been solid. It's always been based on an unhealthy codependency, and both of them have proved that. Elena, in the way she handled her grief over Damon when you both died, and Damon, when he felt he needed to desiccate himself because he thought he couldn't live without her.

"Besides, he needs someone in his life who will ground him, who won't forgive so easily for his mistakes. You aren't lenient with him, and he needs that, not someone who inadvertently justifies his bad behavior."

"Okay, tell me how you really feel, Stefan" Bonnie hadn't expected him to have such a strong perspective on their relationship.

His shoulders raised in a light shrug. "I may not usually be this forthcoming with my opinion on Damon's relationships, but I do have them, and it's obvious to me that between his relationship with you and her, you've always been the better influence on him."

"Hmm." Bonnie went silent. What he said may be true, but Bonnie was not entirely qualified to play moral compass for him anymore, nor did she intend to.

Stefan remained silent as well, and a tired Bonnie ended up drifting off to sleep as he drove them to wherever Caroline had decided upon.

* * *

There weren't a lot of places to choose from that were less than an hour away, so they got two rooms in a halfway decent motel somewhere close to Amarillo. In one room was Damon, Caroline, Stefan and Elena while she, Lucy, and Freya were in the other. The moment they got in the room, Bonnie practically fell out on the bed, still tired even after her short nap in the car. Lucy sat on the couch while Freya sat at the end of the bed near Bonnie's feet.

Bonnie opened her eyes to find Freya's green ones staring back at her. "So _that_ was Damon Salvatore," she said.

Bonnie glared at her. "Don't start."

Freya smirked. "I didn't say anything."

Lucy looked between the two of them. "Am I missing something here? Are you and the older Salvatore a thing?"

"Nope," Bonnie said, hoping they would drop the subject. Suddenly, in the back of her mind, she could feel herself wanting to focus on their pulses, but she tried to suppress that feeling.

"He did seem quite intent on staying by your side back at that facility," Freya pointed out.

"That doesn't mean anything."

Bonnie sat up. The sound of their pulses grew louder in her mind, and the smell of their blood had begun to distract her. She furrowed her brow. Blood lust was rising inside her, and the last thing she wanted to do was attack them. She needed to get out of there.

Standing up, she told them she was going to go check on Elena and went two doors down to the other room where there were more vampires than witch or human.

Bonnie knocked, and Stefan let her in with a brief greeting. When she entered the room, she saw Elena was laid out on the single full-sized bed with Damon sitting on one side of her while Caroline sat on the other. Stefan remained standing, leaning against the wall next to the dresser as Bonnie walked further into the room. Damon took one look at her and Bonnie knew he could tell what was wrong. He glanced at Elena before standing up, but before he could say anything, Caroline spoke first. "Bonnie, we need to talk," Caroline started.

Damon interrupted her. "Me first," he grabbed Bonnie's hand and pulled her out the room. It was around half past nine, and the motel was pretty empty, but he still sped her off around the corner into the darkness and away from any lights outside.

Letting go of his hand, Bonnie's vision adjusted to the dark. She stared up at Damon who stared down at her with an unreadable expression. "You didn't have to do this. I would've been fine."

"No. You wouldn't've. It was only a matter of time before you lost control."

He stretched out his arm and Bonnie stepped closer to him. "Thanks," she said before she took his wrist and sank her fangs into his veins. She pulled on his blood and as the thick liquid slid across her tongue, she could still sense his emotions in the taste. The regret, the longing, the desire on top of it all. Knowing this would assuredly be the last time, she took in everything and savored the rich bitter flavor.

His hand came to rest on her back, and her shoulder brushed against his chest as she leaned towards the arm she was feeding from. His nose brushed along the top of her hair, and his hand moved further down her waist as he ran his index finger along the skin between the shirt and pants she'd changed into. Stopping in the middle of her back, he had the nerve to splay his hand in a way that made her shirt rise marginally so every finger but his last was on her skin. Where he touched her, her body reacted, her skin heating and tingling under his palm, and she let herself lean further into him. Did he not care that Elena was somewhere on the other side of those motel walls? That if she was awake and saw them like this, she most certainly wouldn't be happy. Did his desire for her overruled any thought of _her_?

He was wavering on something. She could taste an indecision in him along with everything else. But she wasn't sure what it pertained to. If, somehow, it had something to do with her and Elena, that was perfectly fine because Bonnie intended to make the choice for him. She was not an option for him, would never give in to him, and she had the dark and invasive irrational thought to punish him for ever thinking she would. It would be easy to rile him up and leave him hanging. All she had to do was take the hand closest to him off his arm, turn her body in to his, and touch him. She would start at his neck, where she wished she could've bit him, then go lower, dragging her fingers down his torso until she reached the edge of his shirt where she would slip her fingers underneath and feel the hard planes of his muscles before she dragged her hand down over the center of his pants. Would he stop her, she wondered? He might think to, she almost smirked, but somehow, Bonnie doubted he would.

Before she could test that theory, the loud sound of a person clearing their throat interrupted them, and Damon quickly eased his arm from Bonnie's grasp. She chased after the blood for a millisecond before the haze of blood lust cleared, and she realized her last thoughts had been influenced by his desire. The guilt hit her, but she pushed it down as she turned to the person who interrupted them. It was Caroline, and she was sporting a glare that was a mixture of suspicion and incredulity. Bonnie stepped away from Damon, feeling his hand slide off her. "I thought you might like to know that Elena is waking up."

Acting as if Caroline hadn't just caught Bonnie feeding on Damon's blood, they both started to head back towards the room, and Caroline, maintaining her suspicious glare, let them, but when Bonnie met her eyes, the look on her face said that they were undoubtedly going to talk about this later.

When they opened the door, Elena was sitting up, propped up against the headboard by a pillow. She was saying something to Stefan but paused when she saw Damon and Bonnie walk into the room. "Damon! And oh my god, Bonnie!" Her already watery eyes burst into tears as Damon came to sit beside her. She wrapped her arms around him, burying her face into his neck before she turned to look at Bonnie who walked over and gave her a brief hug as well. "I…I wasn't sure if you'd be alive. I was told they were able to break the spell because the link between us was weakened somehow, and they used some kind of expression magic to undo it."

Bonnie could guess how the spell weakened. Her becoming a vampire probably had something to do it, and if the sacrifice was big enough, expression would surely get the job done. "You can't imagine how happy I am to see you." She wiped a tear from her eye.

"I'm just glad you're alright."

"Thank you all for saving me," Elena said, her brown eyes passing over everyone.

"Thank Bonnie," Stefan said. "She was the one who found out your coffin was missing, woke Damon, and went looking for you."

"Woke Damon?"

"Damon desiccated himself eight years ago when he decided he couldn't live without you," Bonnie explained, but she couldn't keep the abrasion out of her voice.

Damon sighed, and Elena looked between the two of them before her eyes settled on Bonnie. "Well, I appreciate it."

Did she? "So they were lying when they told us you were cooperating willingly?" Bonnie asked.

She looked down. "That's... partly true. When I first woke up, Jeremy convinced me to let them figure out how to synthesize the cure through my blood for a time. They promised a week and then I would be allowed out of there, but it quickly became clear when they wouldn't let me contact anyone that I was their prisoner, and they told me if I cooperated, they wouldn't send someone back to kill you." She looked at Damon. "And I may have complied with their wishes, but neither I nor Jeremy told them how the cure really worked, how if a vampire practically drained me dry, the cure would transfer to them. If I had done that, I might not be alive." She looked around the room again. "Speaking of my brother, where is Jeremy?"

Everyone looked at each other, and when no one spoke, Damon told her. "He's locked in a cage back at the facility."

"You guys just left him there?"

"This whole thing is basically his fault and Bonnie and I were captured because of him, so yeah, little Gilbert is in a time out."

Elena frowned. "I know he's partially to blame, but he was being manipulated by Morgan."

Bonnie nearly scoffed at her making excuses for her brother. Manipulated or not, he was the catalyst for this entire thing, and he allowed his own sister to be used as a specimen in an experiment against her will.

"We're going to go back and get him soon, Elena. Don't worry." Caroline reassured.

Elena grew quiet after that, her hand slipping into Damon's. Bonnie watched the way their fingers intertwined, and her stomach folded in on itself.

"I'm still exhausted," Bonnie said, "so I'm going back to the other room."

Without looking at Damon, she slipped out the room, closing the door behind her, but it opened right afterwards, and Caroline walked out.

"Bonnie Sheila Bennett, hold on a second."

Here we go, Bonnie thought as she turned to face her.

She waited for the eruption. "There are a million questions I have for you, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that, but firstly, what exactly did I walk in on earlier? After seeing you fight, I put the pieces together and Stefan confirmed for me that you were a vampire-witch, I'm still reeling from that information by the way, but why on god's earth were you feeding from Damon?"

"That's a long story," Caroline looked at her expectantly, and Bonnie knew she wouldn't let this go the way Stefan had. "I'm feeding on him so I don't have to feed on people."

"Why do you have to feed on people?"

Bonnie sighed and gave her the short explanation. "I spelled a ring to help me with the blood lust after I turned, and it was destroyed when Damon and I were captured by this other witch who used to work with the one who ran the place we just escaped from. The side effects of losing it have made it so that blood bags aren't working anymore, and the choice was either people blood or vampire blood, so I chose vampire blood."

"So is there something going on with you and him?" And there it was. The question she really wanted to ask.

"There's nothing going on."

"Because what I saw-"

"There's _nothing_ going on," Bonnie repeated.

There was a second of silence. "Fine. I believe you," she let it go. There was another long pause where Caroline stared at her. She stepped closer, taking Bonnie's hand. "Are you okay? And be honest with me."

"I'm okay Caroline. I'm just trying to adjust to being a vampire."

"Will you tell me how it happened?"

"If I told you all the details, it wouldn't make a difference. Besides," a small smile came to Bonnie's face. "We both know you just want an excuse to go down there and yell at all of them for not being able to protect me."

"Bon-"

"I will tell you this. I didn't intend to, but I died protecting one of them, and I don't regret it. They've saved me a number of times, and for everything I've done for them, they've treated me like a member of their family. After everything that happened, after being a huntress for so long, I needed that."

Her blue eyes softened. "I get it, but even though you moving down there and spending more time with them created this distance between us, I hope you know that I'll always consider you my family too, no matter what. And you can talk to me, you know."

"I know Care. And I promise, I'll make time to come up and visit you and Stefan more."

Caroline pulled her into a hug.

When she let go, Bonnie pointed a thumb behind her. "I'm going to head back and check on Freya and Lucy."

"Alright." Caroline nodded and they went in opposite directions.

When Bonnie walked back in the room, Freya was on her phone texting while discussing something magic-related with Lucy. Their conversation ended as Bonnie sat back down on the bed, and Freya looked over at Bonnie. "You used a lot of magic back there, so we shouldn't linger in this place for too long. She might figure out where you are and I'm not there to control the spell right now."

"Wait, who are we talking about?" Lucy asked.

They both looked at her cousin, then Freya looked back at Bonnie, letting her decide how much she wanted to tell her. "This witch who has a vendetta against me."

"Hm, I was thinking of leaving, but if you're still in trouble, maybe I should stick around for a while. I'd have to make arrangements with my boyfriend, but-"

Bonnie held her hand up. "I don't want you to put your life on hold for me. This is my problem, and I will deal with it."

"She won't be alone," Freya said.

Lucy nodded. "I'll check up on you then, and if you need help, please don't hesitate to call me. I mean it Bonnie. Freya was telling me about how you sometimes like to take things on alone even when you have people willing to help you."

"I know, and I'm trying to break that habit."

The conversation was cut short by a knock on the door. Freya stood up to answer it, looking out the peephole first. Bonnie expected it to be Caroline or Stefan, but Freya turned back to smile at Bonnie. "I think you should answer it."

Bonnie gave her a strange look as she stood up and walked to the door. Who was it that she should be the one to answer? Hesitantly, she opened the door to reveal who was on the other side and her eyes widened as a grin spread across her face. Bonnie stepped towards her, immediately wrapping her arms around her and sinking into her embrace. Bonnie felt her hug back just as tightly. "Is this how you've been living without me?" She asked.

Bonnie chuckled. "I missed you too, Beks," she said warmly.

She leaned back to look at her. "What are you doing here?" Bonnie turned to Freya. "Is she who you called? I figured you might've called someone in from New Orleans, but I didn't think it would be Rebekah."

"Freya did call me and she told me you were in trouble, so I came running along with Hayley. She's handling the vampires and werewolves back at that facility, but I came to bring you home."

"Home?" Bonnie shook her head. "I can't go home. Not without the necklace to protect me from her."

Rebekah reached into her pocket and pulled out a silver chain, at the end of which was another onyx stone the same as the first one. Bonnie could feel the magic radiating from it. "We had another one made. It cost a pretty penny after Kol's apothecary friend in New York learned the first one you received from her was destroyed, but we managed to convince her to make another one." Rebekah handed it to her.

"Thank you." Bonnie put it around her neck, and instantly, she could feel the drain on her magic as it activated.

Rebekah went to sit on the bed and sighed. "No thanks needed." She crossed her legs and leaned back on one of her arms. "I'll just be glad to have my bestie back in the quarter. It's been droll without you, and Hope misses her second favorite aunt."

"Oh please, if anything she's more attached to Bonnie than she is to you," Freya said.

Another knock sounded on the door and Bonnie, who was closest, went to answer it. It was Caroline and Stefan. "We thought it would be best to give them some time alone. Can we come in?"

Bonnie hesitated.

"Oh come on. Let them in," Rebekah said. Caroline immediately tensed at the sound of her voice, and Bonnie opened the door to reveal Rebekah sitting on the bed with a smirk on her face. The tension in the room skyrocketed when Caroline set her sights on her.

"I have a bone to pick with you," Caroline stepped towards her. "For being the all-powerful Originals, you and your entire family are useless. How could you let her die?"

The smirk left Rebekah's face as she uncrossed her legs and stood, stepping into Caroline's space. "No one just let her die, and don't speak on what you know nothing about. You couldn't even be there when Bonnie needed you most, but I was. And where were you again? Oh, that's right. Off playing house with your little husband." She motioned towards Stefan who looked like he didn't want anything to do with this argument.

"Bekah," Bonnie put a hand on her shoulder. "That's enough." She turned to Caroline. "Look, I'm getting ready to go and I don't want to leave on bad terms."

"I'm not on bad terms with you, Bon. I'm on bad terms with the original bitch."

Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Wow, I've never heard that one before. Anyway," she switched topics, "since you two are here, I should mention that Freya told me about the Gilbert boy being locked up, but when Hayley and I went through the place, there was no sign of him."

"None?" Stefan frowned.

"It looked like someone let him out," Rebekah explained.

"Or took him," Caroline suggested. "Someone should probably make sure he's alright."

Bonnie shook her head. She wasn't going to be a part of this. "You guys can handle that. I'm sorry, but I'm going back to New Orleans."

Caroline folded her arms across her chest and looked at Bonnie. "Speaking of, before we came over here, were you just going to leave without saying goodbye?"

"No," Bonnie denied. Caroline gave her a look. "Okay maybe," Bonnie admitted.

"Is it because you don't want him to know, because you want to leave him the same way he left you?" Stefan asked.

"Something like that," Bonnie said. She was serious when she said she wanted him out of her life, and if he knew where she was, that would never happen because he would insist on trying to be best friends again. And maybe they could be. Maybe she could keep denying whatever this thing between them was. But Bonnie didn't want to chance finding herself in a precarious situation, nor, out of pettiness, did she want to bear witness to the relationship he chose over theirs when he desiccated. He made his choice and Bonnie wasn't going to let him go back on it.

"What about Elena?" Caroline asked. "She's already wondering why you seem so distant."

"After having my life tethered to hers I just..." There was no easy way to explain how Bonnie felt towards Elena. She still considered her a friend, she just didn't want to be around her at the moment. It also didn't help that with seeing her came seeing Damon, and she didn't want to see him right now. "Tell her I just need time."

Caroline let out a long breath. "I understand, but please be safe down there."

"I promise." They embraced one another one last time. Then she turned to Stefan and hugged him too.

"Don't be a stranger," Stefan said.

Bonnie smiled at him. "I'll try not to be."

Giving one last hug to Lucy who was going to stay overnight, Bonnie left the motel with Rebekah and Freya.

Freya rode in her own car and Rebekah had come there on foot, so she rode with Bonnie. Still exhausted, Rebekah drove while Bonnie leaned her head against the window, watching the scenery pass by and reveled in the fact that after two months away, she could finally go home.

As soon as they were a good ways onto the highway, Bonnie pulled out her phone. Unlocking it, She sat staring at the screen for a second before she opened her messages. She brought up Damon's name, and her finger hovered over the button to send him a message. She bit her lip and pressed it, writing him one last goodbye:

 _I'm not sorry for leaving without a goodbye because you deserve it, but I do appreciate the things you've done to help me. I know you want to repair this relationship, but like I've said before, it's too late, so I honestly hope you and Elena have the life you dreamed of, and I sincerely wish you the best._

 _Don't look for me._

 _-B_

* * *

 **A/N: Hope Morgan's death wasn't too anticlimactic, but at least we finally know where Bonnie's been! Would love to know how many of you saw this coming even a little bit. For me, I felt like it was obvious, but I am writing the story haha. Also, I'm sorry if you don't like the Originals and are disappointed by this turn of events. I'm sure there's someone out there who might feel that way, but I like the idea of having Bonnie being ingrained in their family.**

 **I should also mention this is the end of what I consider to be part 1 of this story. Now that Elena's alive and rescued, this is when the story moves from being centered around her to being centered around Bonnie and what's going on with her. That being said, I should warn you that the next chapter is an exception. Being from Damon's perspective, it will have a bit of Delena (maybe a lot), so bear with me.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

 _"Do you even know what love feels like?"_

 _"Like what you and Marcel have? I don't think so."'_

* * *

After everything, Damon and Elena returned to the boarding house in Mystic Falls and tried to rebuild their lives. For Elena, that meant returning to the pre-med program at Whitmore. She re-applied, but explaining the eight-year gap in her life would be difficult without lying, so Damon offered to pull some strings to get her back in. Initially, Elena didn't want him to. That string pulling involved him compelling a few people in the admissions office, and Elena wanted to get in on her own merit, but Damon did his own investigating. When he found out they were going to reject her application, he went against her wishes and compelled them anyway. In the end, Elena found out and was upset at first, but she eventually forgave him like she always did.

For Damon, rebuilding his life had less to do with starting a career and more to do with mending relationships. Sucking up his pride, he had managed to talk Alaric into drinks one night and apologized to him. Since then they had been doing better. Damon even assisted with a few of the more dangerous Armory errands, though that was more out of boredom than a true desire to help. He and Stefan spoke twice then not at all, but Damon heard from Elena that he and Caroline stayed busy doing something or other. She had her job as a news anchor, and Stefan apparently went back to being a mechanic. They lived a wholesome little domestic life, the kind of life that he and Elena were on the cusp of.

And regarding him and Elena, things were close to perfect between them, notwithstanding a few arguments, and if asked, Damon would say he was happy, but something was different. Things weren't exactly the way they had been before, at least not for him. There was an emptiness, a small void that had nothing to do with Elena and everything to do with a certain green-eyed witch. That isn't to say it affected the way he felt about Elena. No. He still loved his girlfriend, but it affected…something.

He looked over at his phone on the nightstand.

 _She_ wouldn't answer any of his calls or text messages. Five times, he called her. Two times after he received her shitty goodbye text, once after he'd been drinking at the Mystic Grill, another time after he and Elena had a fight, and the last time two weeks ago when he began to miss her out of the blue. There were a few text messages too, the first apologizing for the millionth time, then another string of texts saying he missed her and would watch The Bodyguard with her as many times as she wanted. After that, there was another asking her to answer the phone and let him know he was alive, and another he wrote when he was a bottle and a half deep into some bourbon that was a word or two away from begging her to give him another chance.

She read all of them though. He could see the read receipts glaring at him like a slap in the face, but despite the sting of being ignored, it gave him hope. If he could still call and send her messages, that meant she hadn't blocked him. That on top of the fact that Bonnie had read them was a sign she hadn't completely written him off.

He just wished she would answer. She could have been dead for all he knew. The only reason he knew otherwise was because of Stefan. The first time he called his brother, he asked about her, but he refused to give him any information besides the fact that she was alive and perfectly fine wherever she was. _She needs time,_ he said. But how much? He was sorry. He knows she knows he's sorry, so all she's doing is punishing him. How long would this last? Or was it even about that anymore?

In those last few days they spent searching for Elena, Damon had strained their relationship further. They had been tiptoeing a line, and he had not so subtly pushed her for something outside the boundary of friendship. Now he would be content if she would just speak to him. He could settle with being her friend. He could smother his attraction to her. After 1994, he'd done it, and he'd do it again just to have her back in his life.

Damon ran a hand over his face.

How had he become this pathetic? It was laughable what she had reduced him to, but it drove him a little crazy not knowing where she was, who she was with, or how she was doing. It was hard to go from talking nearly everyday before he desiccated, before she almost died from that head injury in the Armory, to this. He worried about her, even after he'd decided he would put her out of his mind and focus on the present, but it was hard not to think of the past when he still lived in the boarding house and memories of her lingered in so many rooms.

"What are you thinking about?"

He looked over at his girlfriend whose head rested on his shoulder to find her brown eyes wide awake and staring up at him. "Nothing."

Leaning down, he kissed her, then pulled her onto him with the arm she'd been laying on. She propped herself up by her arms so she straddled him, and the covers slipped from around her shoulders. She wore one of her usual nighties with nothing underneath, and usually, she would have indulged him in a round of morning sex, but for the past few days she had been growing increasingly distant.

She stared down at him with a contemplative expression. "What's wrong?" He asked her.

She looked at the clock, then leaned down to peck him on the lips before she hopped off him and got out of bed. "As much as I would love to, we both know that you'll try to keep me here all day." She walked off into the bathroom. "I have work at the store, then I have a lot of errands to run to get ready for the move." College classes were starting next week and instead of going back to the dorms, Elena had found an apartment near campus.

The shower water started at the same time he called out to her. "I can help you with those errands if you want." He had nothing better to do anyway.

"Sure. We can meet up after my shift." She yelled from inside the shower.

Standing up, he threw on a shirt and some pants before walking to the door. "Do you want breakfast?"

"Yeah, I should have enough time to eat."

While she showered, Damon went downstairs to the kitchen. He opened up the cabinets pausing over the pancake mix for a moment. Then he closed the cabinets and went to the refrigerator. Pulling out the frozen waffles, he popped some in the toaster while he quickly made some scrambled eggs and bacon. With a little help from his vampire speed, her plate was ready as she came down the steps. "Looks good." She sat down at the kitchen table while Damon sat across from her, nursing a cup of blood and coffee.

Damon stared across the table at her. Something was off, and the last time she was like this, it had been a prelude to a massive fight about their plans for the future.

Steadily, she ate, but every so often, her eyes would glance at the cup he held.

"There's obviously something on your mind, so say it."

She placed her fork and knife beside her plate and leaned back in her chair. "I've been patient, and I haven't mentioned it again because I know it's a big change, and you need time, but it's been two months since we last discussed it and I need to know. You do want to be with me forever, right?"

"Of course."

"And you still want to grow old with me and have kids and live a normal life, right?"

Damon didn't like where this was headed. "Yes, I want all of that."

"Then when are you going to take the cure? And I don't want any vague answer like soon or in the near future again. I want to know when you plan to take it."

He was silent. This was bound to become an issue at some point. Damon had been avoiding the topic since they returned, but occasionally, she mentioned the future and marriage in a way that was obviously her dropping hints. It only made sense that this would lead to the question of when he was taking the cure, and while Damon was open to the prospect of marriage, the cure was a different story.

In the past, he told her he would take the cure to be with her, but the more he'd thought about it, the more he thought he wasn't ready to give up being a vampire just yet. "I'm not saying you have to go and take it tomorrow, I just want to know if you're still thinking about taking it at all-"

He knew what to say to placate her, and the words were out of his mouth before he could stop himself. "When I propose."

He'd shocked her to silence, and the words hung in the air. It was the first time he'd ever mentioned proposing to her. A slow smile spread across her face, and just like that her mood had lightened. "I don't suppose you'll tell me when that might be?"

"Why ruin the surprise?"

"Come on," she grinned. "Just a little hint."

"Soon," he promised.

Elena ate another mouthful before she looked at her wristwatch. "Ah, I'm going to be late." She looked down at her plate.

"Don't worry about it," Damon said.

She smiled gratefully, walked around to the table to kiss him on the cheek, then ran off towards the door, grabbing her purse and a light jacket on the way out.

When the door shut, Damon stared at her unfinished food, and let out a long sigh before he downed the rest of his morning blood and started to collect her dishes.

If he was going to propose to her, he should probably start looking for a ring.

Elena finished her shift at the clothing store around one o'clock in the afternoon and Damon met up with her to run those errands, the majority of which consisted of shopping for things to put in her apartment. Damon played the role of dutiful boyfriend easily. She dragged him around by the hand, pointing out things, asking for his opinion on whether she should buy it, and he gave his honest feedback.

After a while, he became bored and started to get handsy with her until she gave in and they found themselves going at it in the store bathroom. When they finished, they went right back to shopping, but here and there, when Elena caught him staring, she would give him this suggestive smile that made him pull her back in for another kiss. In these moments, it hit him that everything was too good to be true, and he was practically living a fantasy. They were happy, and Damon was getting used to this kind of life as a human, but what if it didn't live up to his expectations. What if he ended up missing being a vampire more than he enjoyed being human?

At the moment, Elena was talking to the store clerk while asking if they delivered a certain shelving to the area where she would be living. Damon's eyes wandered around the store until they landed on a rack of sunglasses across the aisle. Unbidden, a memory of her surfaced, the last time they went shopping before Kai appeared. He pushed it from his mind, turning back to his girlfriend. Her phone began to ring.

Elena pulled it out of her bag, and Damon saw that it was Caroline as she answered. She excused herself from the clerk and brought the phone to her ear.

"How are you?" Caroline asked.

"I'm great. Just shopping with Damon." Elena glanced at him.

"Sounds fun," she said sarcastically.

Elena snorted. "He's not that bad to shop with."

"Anyway, I was calling because I'm in town, and we should do dinner, like a couple's dinner with me and Stefan and you and Damon. Are you free tonight?"

Elena looked to Damon for his agreement, and he nodded his head. It might be good to see his brother again.

"Yeah. We're free." She responded.

"Great. We'll meet you guys at that new restaurant at the edge of town, Atera, at seven."

"Alright. We'll see you then."

Elena hung up and threw her phone back in her bag. "That was random. I wonder why she's in town."

Damon shrugged. "I guess we'll find out."

"When was the last time you spoke to Stefan?"

"I don't know. It's been a while," Damon said, but he knew exactly when he last spoke to him and what their conversation had been about.

"This'll be good for you then. You two can get back to being on better terms with one another."

"Maybe."

When they were done shopping, they headed home to change. The restaurant that Caroline spoke of was one of the fancier restaurants in town, so they dressed accordingly. Damon changed into a black suit jacket with a sleek pair of black slacks and Elena slipped into a sleeveless soft pink dress that flared out from the waist. She looked perfect and together they looked like a model couple.

"Ready?" He asked her.

She flashed him a brilliant smile, nodding her head.

Damon drove him and Elena in his Camaro. The restaurant was only a little over twenty minutes away from them, but with Damon's driving, they arrived in under fifteen minutes.

When they walked in, they were greeted by a server. Elena gave the guy Caroline's name, and he escorted them to their table. They were in a booth near the center of the restaurant, and Damon could see Caroline was playing with his hand, leaning into Stefan while he said something low in her ear that made her smile and lean her head further into his shoulder.

He grabbed Elena's hand as they approached, and Stefan noticed them first, sitting up straighter which alerted Caroline as well. When they came close, she cheerfully greeted them both as they took a seat in the booth, gushing about how pretty Elena's dress was and how much the color suited her. Elena complimented Caroline in kind, who wore a deep almost forest green dress that slightly reminded him of Bonnie's eyes.

While the girls talked, Damon turned to Stefan who sat across from him. "Brother," Damon nodded his head in greeting.

He nodded back. "Damon. How are things?" He asked politely.

"Perfectly perfect. How are things with you?"

"The same." He glanced at Caroline, his hand shifting in hers and the look on his face illustrating just how much he loved her. The waiter came and Stefan ordered a bottle of wine for all of them.

"So, tell me, what's new?," Caroline started. "You got the apartment, right? When do you move?"

"Next week."

"If you need help, we'll probably still be here."

"Why are you in town anyway," Damon asked.

"I'm selling my old house. I was holding on to it for sentimental reasons, but I think I'm finally ready to let it go."

"Hmm, well I'm sure Liz is in full support from beyond the grave."

Surprise flitted across her face as she considered his words. "That's…actually kind of you to say Damon."

The waiter came back with their drinks and they took a moment to order their meals. When they finished, the waiter collected their menus and headed off. They returned to conversation, Damon asking Stefan about what he was working on in the shop while the girls drifted off onto the topic of some celebrity or other that Caroline recently met at the news station she worked at.

While he spoke to his brother, a strange feeling settled inside him, a foreignness directed towards himself. Never in his life did Damon think he would be this domesticated, and yet here he was having dinner with his brother and his brother's wife like it was a routine occurrence. He glanced at Elena, and she glanced at him, smiling brightly. He tried to return it, but the feeling behind it wasn't what it should be. This was him. This was what he was going to be, but it struck him that it didn't quite feel right, that it felt like a dream instead of reality, and he hoped that with time, that feeling would fade. After a while, Elena stood up from the booth, drawing all of their attention.

"I'll be right back," Elena said. "I'm going to go to the bathroom for a minute."

The conversation died down into an awkward silence with only Damon in the seat across from them. "So," Damon started, unphased by the awkwardness, "heard from any green-eyed witches lately."

They both looked at one another before they spoke. "No."

"You realize what you just did was an obvious tell that you're lying right? At least tell me how she is."

Caroline answered. "She's fine."

"That's it. Just fine?"

"I told you when we last spoke over the phone. She explicitly asked us not to tell you anything," Stefan explained.

"Haven't I been punished enough?"

"Frankly, no, but I don't think it's entirely about punishing you. I really think she just doesn't want you around. What you did hurt her, and I'm sure she doesn't want to go through that again." Caroline explained.

"I know I've made a mistake, and I've learned my lesson."

The blonde vampire cocked her head to the side. "Have you?"

Damon frowned, but didn't bother to defend himself anymore. "Has she at least asked about me?"

"Once or twice, though indirectly through asking about Elena," Stefan said.

"The next time you talk to her, tell her that I…" He trailed off, not wanting to reveal how much he missed her to Caroline and Stefan. "Just tell her that I said hello."

Elena returned to the table at the tail end of his statement. "Tell who that you said hello?"

Everyone was quiet for a second before Damon answered. "Bonnie."

A melancholy expression came over her face. "Oh, it's been a while since I've heard from her. The last time we talked-"

The implication of her words cuts through him. "You've talked to her since we've been back?"

Elena paused, realizing what she just said, then looked at Damon with soft eyes. "Yeah, we had a long conversation a few weeks ago, but she was...distant. It's like she's a different person now."

Damon couldn't explain his reaction. An uncomfortable pit formed in his stomach as he felt something almost akin to betrayal. Bonnie talking to Stefan and Caroline and them not telling him was understandable, but Elena not telling him was different. Damon had thought they were in the same boat, that Bonnie had cut ties with them both. To find out they weren't made him feel more isolated by her than he already was. "Did she tell you where she was?"

"No. She wouldn't tell me that. All she said was that she was safe and fine and happy."

"Why didn't you tell me you talked to her?"

"She told me about the way you left, and she asked me not to. But I didn't think you would care this much. You never mention her."

"Of course I care about her." Damon may not mention her around Elena, but he thought about her all the time.

The waiter returned with their food and they waited in silence as he placed their plates in front of them, asked them if they needed anything else, then left when Caroline responded in the negative for all of them.

"Maybe we should talk about something else," Caroline said and switched to talking about the twins while she ate her food. Damon said nothing as she went on about how the twins were doing well in school and how smart they are. Elena said something about how she can't wait for her and Damon to have a child of their own one day.

After that Damon sat back in his seat, letting the three of them carry the conversation. All the while, he was aware of the way Stefan was observing him. When they finished their food, Damon offered to pay and Stefan let him, but his little brother insisted he take care of the tip. After the food was paid for, Damon and Stefan headed outside while the girls trotted off to the bathroom together.

There was a slight chill in the August air, as Damon took a seat on one of the benches and stared off into the parking lot. Stefan stood beside him, and Damon could feel his broody stare directed at the side of his head.

"You're sulking," Stefan said.

"I'm not sulking," Damon denied.

He looked towards Stefan and after a moment, he spoke again. "It's just the way she's ignoring me is driving me insane."

"Sounds like you miss her."

"If I admitted that, would you tell me where she was."

"Why do you want to know where she is so badly?"

"I can't fix what I've done when she won't answer my calls or respond to any of my messages. The way I see it, I need to make some kind of apologetic gesture to get her to hear me out. I can't do that if I don't know where she is."

Something occurred to Damon, and he tried a different angle. "Is she still with that witch? Fran, Freida, what was her name?" Perhaps he could find the witch, then find her.

"You mean Freya?" Stefan shrugged. "I don't know."

"Does Freya have a last name?"

Stefan's shoulders stiffened slightly, and Damon raised a brow at his reaction. "Wait. Why won't you tell me her last name. It's not a name I would know, is it?"

"Damon-"

"It's a name I would know, isn't it?"

Stefan's silence spoke volumes.

"I will find her with or without your help Stefan." If his brother wouldn't help him, he knew someone who might know her.

He shook his head, then turned to see the girls walking out of the restaurant. "Sorry we took so long," Elena said, then turned to Caroline. "Where are you guys going after this?"

"We were going to check in to a hotel."

"Nonsense. You should stay in the boarding house with us. It's your place just as much as it's ours."

"Are you sure? We don't want to be any trouble."

Elena gave her a look. "Are you kidding? Caroline, stop. You're staying at the boarding house and that's that."

Caroline turned to smile at Stefan and took his hand. "Alright. Then we'll meet you there."

* * *

That night, Stefan and Caroline had settled into Stefan's old room and Elena slept soundly beside Damon. They had forgone sex due to Elena not wanting to disturb the two vampires staying with them. That gave Damon time to think about whether he was really going after Bonnie or what he might do to apologize for the umpteenth time.

The next morning, he came to a conclusion. He was going to find her. His reasoning was that he wanted that friendship, that comradery enough that he was willing to go to some lengths to figure out where she was. And even if she slammed the door in his face, he would not stop trying simply because he wanted to defy her expectations and show her that he was a better man than he used to be.

Damon dressed himself and had finished throwing on his leather jacket when Elena finally woke up. "Where are you going?"

He gave her a vague answer. "I'm going to New York for a while." Damon leaned over to kiss her forehead. "I should be back in a few days."

Damon got in his car and drove to the airport in Richmond. By midday he was on a flight to New York and in the afternoon, he landed. Damon made his way through the streets of the city, passed the beautiful hotel and walked down the corner to the alleyway with a single door set into grey brick. Damon opened that door, descended the black carpeted stairwell until he reached another steel door with the bouncer sitting outside of it.

It was the same tall burly one as when he'd last come here, and Damon could see the recognition in his eyes.

"I see you've returned, and you're still not dressed well enough for me to let you enter."

"Look. Just ask Jay if he's willing to speak with me for a minute. I'll be quick."

"What was the name?" He asked.

"Damon Salvatore."

He turned to speak into his ear piece, and after a long moment, the bouncer nodded and opened the door for him.

It was still early afternoon, so the place wasn't crowded. Only a few people were littered about, but Damon paid them no mind as he beelined towards the bar where Jay was busy pouring a drink for the only woman who was sitting there.

Jay locked eyes with Damon as he approached. "It's been less than twenty years and you're already back in my club. To what do I owe this pleasure?" Jay looked around Damon as if he expected someone else to be with him. "And where's your beautiful friend?" A slow grin spread across his face. "Don't tell me there's more trouble in paradise?"

"You could say that," Damon grumbled. "She's not returning my calls and I'm here because I'm looking for her. I think you might know a witch who knows where she is?"

Jay pulled out a glass and poured him a bourbon as he spoke. "Are you going to give me a description again, or do you have a name this time?"

He slid the glass of bourbon towards Damon, and he grabbed it, taking a gulp. "The witch's name is Freya."

He leaned forward onto the bar and pretended to think. "Hmm. Yes. I might know who you're talking about, but if I tell you, what will you give me in return?"

"How about I'll just owe you one."

"I've got a better idea. How about you tell me how your search for the cure went and why exactly you ended up back here."

Damon stared at Jay. "Fine."

He started at the moment they left Jay's place and headed to Chicago, told him how they were captured by Dr. Ross, escaped then discovered she went to school with the witch they were looking for in Kansas. He skipped over a lot of the minor details of their search, but told him how they met the group of vampires being hunted in the middle of Kansas and found someone who escaped from a facility doing research on the cure. When Damon reached the part about them getting captured outside the facility, he lied, weaving a story about how they ended up destroying the lab because of the horrors that were going on there.

Damon finished his tale and Jay stared at him for a long moment. Then he smiled. "Alright. I suppose there was enough truth in that. I'll tell you who Freya probably is and where you might find your friend." He paused, leaning further onto the counter. "Remember how when you were last here, she told me something to make me let you two go."

"What?"

"In so many words, she said that if I didn't let you two walk out of here, certain vampires would come looking for her, one of which would be Klaus Mikaelson himself and he would not be happy to find her dead. And if Freya is who I think she is, she's the new Mikaelson sibling I've been hearing about. No idea where she came from though."

Damon let the information sink in. The Mikaelsons? Of all people, the Mikaelsons? This had to be some kind of joke. "You can't be serious." Damon deadpanned.

"On I'm quite serious, but I'm surprised you didn't know. I did hear about some of the goings ons in Mystic Falls, and I know it's likely that you've crossed paths with the Originals too, but I thought you knew she had a connection to them."

Damon downed the rest of his drink. "Thanks for the info." Placing the empty glass on the bar, he moved to stand.

"So are you going to New Orleans now?"

"To talk some sense into her, yes."

"Well, good luck with that."

Damon left Jay's place and took a car back to the airport. No wonder Stefan wouldn't tell him Freya's last name. He knew. He and Caroline both knew that Bonnie was with the Original vampires, and Damon couldn't believe they would let her fall into their clutches. He would fix this. They had to have something on Bonnie, that's the only reason he could see her staying around them. He would find out whatever it was, help her get them off her back and earn her forgiveness at the same time.

But what if he was wrong? Damon remembered the way she had interacted with that Freya woman, the genuine look of happiness she had when she saw her. What if she was there of her own free will?

Pulling out his phone, he called up Stefan who answered on the second ring.

"Stefan, why is she with the Mikaelsons?"

There was a long pause. "How did you find out?"

"Don't worry about that. Just tell me why because I can't fathom her being there because she wants to be."

Stefan sighed. "All I know is that after the huntress spell was broken and she lost her magic, she was looking for a way to get it back and Freya was one of the people who helped her. I'm not entirely sure how she became so close to the rest of her family but she's there because she wants to be. Tell me you're not about to go see her."

"I am, and if you have an address, I would appreciate it."

"What are you trying to accomplish by going there?"

"I need to make sure she's safe for my own sanity."

There was another long pause. "Alright," Stefan caved. "I'll give you the address."

* * *

It was evening by the time Damon arrived in Louisiana. The streets of New Orleans were beautiful and lively this time of year. Jazz music could be heard somewhere and The city always had a certain air of freedom and culture that a lot of other cities didn't have, and people, tourist and native alike reaped the benefits of it.

When he was close to the address Stefan gave to him, Damon found himself wandering into a flower shop. He figured coming not empty handed would be better than coming empty handed, and he perused the selection of flora. Damon had no idea what her favorite flower was or if she even had one, but he paused over the gardenias and orchids, thinking she might like them before the roses caught his eye. There were a variety of colors, pink, yellow, white, red, and maybe he should've gone for yellow, but he bought a dozen red ones instead.

"I hope whoever you're buying these for enjoys them," the store clerk said as he paid at the counter.

"You and me both."

Damon left the flower shop and made his way towards the address. Standing outside the compound, he was about to walk inside when Freya walked out.

"Stefan called, and I had a feeling you'd be arriving soon."

"Where is she?"

Her green eyes dipped to the roses in his hand, and her eyebrows raised. "Are those for her?"

"Are you going to tell me where to find her or am I going to have to comb the city myself."

Freya smirked at him. "Relax. She's at Rousseau's. It's a couple blocks that way." She pointed a finger. "You can't miss it."

Damon hadn't expected her to be so forthcoming. "Thanks."

Five minutes later, he found Rousseau's where she said it would be. It was a bar, a popular one by the looks of the crowd inside. Damon walked in, his eyes surveying the crowd until the sound of a laugh drew his attention to the corner of the bar.

There she was.

She was sitting on the stool with her legs crossed and nursing a tall glass of brown liquid. She wore a dark grey cropped shirt underneath an oversized jean jacket and a pair of high wasted black shorts that left her legs on display. Her lips were set into a wide smile, as she chuckled, brushing a hand through her perfectly curled hair while she talked to a blonde woman who was facing away from him.

He started to approach, and as if drawn to him, her eyes scanned out over the crowd as she took another sip of her drink, and almost immediately met his. Whatever hint of a smile was still on her face left at the sight of him.

The person she'd been talking to, the woman with blonde hair, turned to follow where Bonnie's interest had gone, and Damon's step faltered as he saw that Bonnie had been talking to none other than Rebekah Mikaelson.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry this took so long, and thanks for reading! Now we know what Bonnie said to Jay all the way back in Chapter 2! And next time we'll have quite a bit of Bamon, so stay tuned. No promises, but I'll try to update faster.**

 **Also, someone asked about how many parts this is going to be and for now there's only going to be two (with chapter 1-15 as one part and chapter 16-? as another), unless I feel I need to break this part into two, which I might, but I don't know. I'm half planning this, half working things out as I go so we'll see.**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

 _"Then how can you say that it wasn't love or something like that."_

 _"I don't know. I just know it wasn't."_

* * *

They didn't notice him at first. They were so wrapped up in their conversation with one another. Bonnie was laughing as Rebekah told her a story about a man who tried to court her by writing a poem that compared her to his favorite goat. Listening to her, she swirled her straw around in the long island iced tea she was drinking until something in the air changed, and the familiar weight of someone's eyes rested upon her. Her own eyes moved about the crowded room, looking for the source when they landed on Damon.

Her smile fell and she tensed, alerting Rebekah who stopped speaking and turned to watch as he approached them with a bouquet of a dozen red roses in hand. He made his way through the crowd to them and came to a stop in front of Bonnie, ignoring the original vampire seated beside her.

He handed her the roses. "For you, Bon-bon."

Bonnie hesitated before she took them. The flowers have thrown her off. She dipped her nose into the petals, closing her eyes as she briefly smelled them. "Thank you. They're beautiful." The petals were a deep red shade that reminded her of blood.

She raised her gaze to meet his pale blue eyes which intensely focused on her green ones as if he was already conveying emotions he usually kept tucked away. After a second, Bonnie broke eye contact to glance at Rebekah who was unusually silent. She merely raised her eyebrows in response and looked at the roses, then back at Bonnie, the ghost of a smirk on her face.

"I'll give you two a minute." She grabbed her drink off the bar top and slid off her stool, disappearing elsewhere.

Bonnie looked back to Damon. The initial intensity was gone, and his eyes held hers for another second before they raked over her, spending the longest amount of time on the length her legs.

She took the liberty of perusing his appearance as well. He looked good, more like the Damon she remembered, and much better than he had three months ago. She wouldn't tell him that though. "What are you doing here?" She placed the roses on the counter beside her.

Damon took Rebekah's place at the bar, his knee brushing her crossed leg as he sat on the stool. The small touch warmed her skin and made her leg tingle ever so slightly. "I know, I know. I'm the last person you want to see, but when I found out where you were, I needed to know if you were alright."

"As you can see, I'm fine."

"Are you?" He reached over and pressed a hand to her forehead. "You're not sick or anything?"

After a second, she batted his hand away from her, his cool touch leaving her forehead feeling hot. "Vampires don't get sick."

"Then you sure you haven't been brainwashed?"

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "I haven't been brainwashed, Damon."

"You say that, but that's exactly what a brainwashed person would say. How can I know you're telling the truth?"

"You can't. All you can do is trust that I have sound judgement and can make decisions for myself. How did you find me anyway? Was it Stefan?"

"No," Damon explained how he went back to New York and spoke to Jay.

"You went all the way back to him to figure out where I was."

"I wouldn't have had to if you would answer my calls."

"I didn't want to speak to you."

The corner of his mouth turned up. "You're speaking to me now."

She shrugged. "Before you came, I was in a good mood. And though they change nothing, I've decided the roses warrant a single conversation."

"Only one?" He leaned towards her, forearm resting on the beside him. His whole body was situated towards her and the way he sat forward on the stool, one leg on the ground, the other on the foot rest underneath the stool, kept his knee brushing against her shin. "What if I bought all the roses in the city and sent them to you? How many conversations would that get me?"

She eyed him as she fingered her drink. "You wouldn't, and besides," she paused. "This is a onetime thing."

"That's where you're wrong. I would if it earned me your friendship."

"And is that all you want from me? Friendship?"

He sighed, leaning back from her. "There's a Bonnie sized void in my life that I'm looking to fill, and I want to go back to the way things were before I tried to make them complicated."

They stared at one another. "I'm sure you could find someone else to fill that void."

"But they wouldn't be you."

He was laying it on thick, but with Damon there was always a limit to how far he would express his feelings. Bonnie wanted to push him. "Then tell me, why me?"

"If you listened to or read my messages, then you know why."

"I want you to say it to my face."

He frowned. "Fine. Here it is. I miss you. I miss talking to you, I miss being around you. I can count on one hand the number of people in this world who have known me, accepted me for who I am, and were still willing to be a friend to me. Even less the number of people that I can be at ease with, that I actively want to spend time with because I enjoy being around them, and I don't want to lose that in you," he paused. "So I propose we start with a trial basis, and if I don't fuck up again, you can upgrade to the full subscription."

Bonnie didn't respond right away.

"Well?" Damon asked.

Damon had visibly steeled himself for her reaction, but she could see the hope leaking through his eyes. Still, she couldn't imagine returning to the way things were. "I'm sorry, but you wasted your time coming here. I can't give you what you want."

"You're still mad at me."

"No. I don't know if it's anger that I feel any more so much as I just can't trust you."

"Then let me prove it to you," he insisted.

"Damon," Bonnie sighed.

At that moment, Damon's phone began to buzz in his pocket. When he took it out, Elena's name was written across the screen. The corner of his lips turned downward as he watched it vibrate.

"You should answer that."

Pointedly looking at Bonnie, he promptly rejected her call and put his phone away. "No. Right now is about me and you, and whether you'd be willing to give me another chance."

She looked away from him and out over the crowd in the bar. A familiar face was locked in conversation with Rebekah, his arms wrapped around her waist as he said something that made her smile before they both looked over at Bonnie. He kissed Rebekah on her temple and then began walking to the bar.

She returned her attention back towards Damon. "The answer is still no right now."

Unaware of the person approaching them, Damon began to speak. "Then is there-"

"Hey B," Damon was interrupted as an arm wrapped itself around her shoulder and she turned into him for a hug. He kept an arm around her waist almost protectively as he turned towards Damon. "Who's your friend?"

Bonnie was sure Rebekah already told him exactly who he was. "This is Damon Salvatore."

"Marcel Gerard." Still keeping an arm around Bonnie, he extended his hand and Damon shook it. "I've heard a bit about you."

"Nothing good, I bet," Damon said, but his focus was on the way Marcel had his arm wrapped around her.

Marcel chuckled. "You're right about that, but welcome to New Orleans. This city is as much mine as Niklaus claims it to be his, but I'm the one who runs everything to do with the vampires here. That being said, if you have any problems with anyone during your stay, come to me, and I'll handle it." Both males seemed to size one another up. Marcel's friendly smile was for show, and Bonnie was sure Damon understood that. "I'm sorry for interrupting, but I need to borrow her for a moment. Do you mind?"

Bonnie spoke before Damon could respond with snark or a quip. "He was just leaving anyway."

Damon's expression settled into nonchalance, but he was obviously annoyed. "Fine. Have it your way then." Damon stood up, his leg brushing against hers again.

Damon left and Bonnie let out a long breath. She looked at the roses as Marcel's arm slipped from around her. "So that's _the_ guy."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Bonnie mumbled. "What did you want Marcel?"

"You just looked like you wanted an out from that conversation, and I came to rescue you. I am looking for Josh though."

"I haven't seen him anywhere, but he's probably getting ready for his birthday party tomorrow."

His eyes dipped to the roses Bonnie had placed on the bar counter beside her. "Did he give you those?"

She nodded.

"So what are you going to do about him?"

Bonnie stared at the bouquet. "Hopefully he leaves, and I don't have to do anything."

* * *

The next day, Bonnie spent the morning locked in her apartment, studying a grimoire she recently acquired from a witch a few towns over. She pretended as if the conversation with Damon never happened, and tried not to think about him at all, but irrevocably, that plan went to shit when she received a text message from him.

 _We should finish our conversation._

Bonnie stared at the message for a moment, and her eyes, of their own accord, flicked back up to his last message, the one where he's asking her for another chance. It was a lot like what he said the day before, and even though he came here when she wanted to be left alone, deep down, very deep down, she appreciated the effort. Her fingers scrolled to the one before that, the one before that, and further back until she was all the way back to his first demand for her to pick up the phone after she left. Since that one, the messages had become increasingly repentant, with him saying things like _You know I'm sorry,_ and _Miss you_ between a bribes of watching The Bodyguard or spending time with her doing whatever she wanted. Sure, Damon was apologetic when they traveled together, but these messages sometimes felt so unlike Damon, that sometimes she wasn't even sure it was him who had typed them out, yet she knew it had to be.

Bonnie scrolled back down to the bottom, and started to type a reply telling him there was nothing more to say, but then she erased it, cut her screen off, and placed the phone on the table in front of her, deciding that if there was nothing more to say, then she wouldn't say anything.

Later, in the afternoon, she made her way over to Rebekah and Marcel's place to get ready for Josh's birthday. Bonnie had called Rebekah earlier, complaining about how she had nothing she wanted to wear, and Rebekah offered to lend her something in exchange for her advice on an outfit.

At the moment, Rebekah sat on Bonnie's bed beside a slew of possible dresses they both had picked out for Josh's birthday party.

Rebekah held up a rather short black dress that left little to the imagination. "I think you should wear this one."

"That's a bit much don't you think?"

She shrugged. "You'll have every guy drooling."

Bonnie's eyes flitted over all the dresses Rebekah had picked out. Most of which showed quite a bit of skin. "Are you trying to get me laid? Because I appreciate it but-"

"That's not quite it." Rebekah sighed, sitting down on the bed. Bonnie sat down with her. "There's something I should confess. Don't hate me for this, but remember how yesterday I told you I told off Damon outside Rousseau's as he was leaving. Well I may have also told him about Josh's birthday party." At the look Bonnie gave her, she became somewhat contrite. "I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have told him about it before asking you, but I'm telling you now, and if you really don't want him to come, you know I can make sure he doesn't get in. In fact, I can make sure he leaves the city and never sets foot inside of New Orleans ever again if you want."

Bonnie shook her head. "I'm not _that_ bothered by him coming, but why would you do that?"

"Because I know you want him to keep trying, even if you won't admit it. I've caught you staring at his text messages and you've listened to that voicemail he left more than once. You and I both know how you really feel about him."

Bonnie denied it. "You're wrong. I don't feel anything about him anymore."

Rebekah let out a frustrated sigh. "Oh please. I can't believe we're back to square one with this. You're denying the way you feel just like you did in the past, and you need to stop. I saw the way he looked at you and the way you looked at him in Rousseau's. There's something still there. Admit it, Bonnie."

They stared one another down, and Bonnie knew Rebekah wouldn't back down from this until she yielded and admitted to the feelings she kept buried underneath the layer of feigned ignorance she'd created to protect herself.

Since they became friends, one thing Rebekah always emphasized over the course of their friendship was how Bonnie needed to embrace not only who she was, but how she felt. That involved not just acknowledging but accepting her feelings. In doing so, she made Bonnie realize how much she had bottled up, not just about Damon, but about the way she had been treated back in Mystic Falls. As a result, they both bonded over how insignificant they were made to feel by people they considered to be friends and family. Though Rebekah could never understand the extent of what that was like as a black woman in this society, her own experiences with the way her family treated her created a common ground between them that had blossomed into a friendship where they tried to uplift one another.

Once upon a time, she was the last person Bonnie ever thought she would receive that kind of support from, but people could surprise you. Rebekah could sometimes be a bit impulsive, over the top, and overreact to things that upset her, but she tended to have pretty good insight when it came to other people, at least in Bonnie's case.

Years ago, they had a similar discussion before about her and Damon after she'd read the letter, and Rebekah made her admit the way she had felt about him, why it had hurt so much when he left. Bonnie thought she had been able to let it go. She was a human at the time and she was never going to see him again. But then she became a vampire. When that happened, she knew she might see him again, and she thought she was still over it, but when she woke him up, everything became muddled as what she felt towards him before he decided to desiccate still lived underneath all of the resentment for what he'd done.

"Fine. So maybe you're right. Maybe there is something there. Maybe I am attracted to Damon, and maybe he's attracted to me."

"Exactly, and both of you need to address this and be straight with one another. Then he needs to make a clear decision so both of you can either do something about it or move on. Him finding you and coming here means something-"

Bonnie cut her off. "Yeah, but I don't think him coming here means what you think it means. He's still with Elena."

"And?"

"It's not that simple because it's not just about whatever this thing is between us. A big part of the issue with him is that he doesn't deserve anything from me right now, nevertheless an admission that there's something between us."

"You can admit it to him without acting on it, and look at it this way, getting it off your chest will make things clearer as to what, outside of trust issues from the desiccation thing, you and I both know is another big reason why you won't let him back in your life, and maybe he'll finally understand. You have to see that this is better than allowing him to delude himself into thinking that he'll be able to settle with simply being friends with you when you already believe that friendship can't exist because of the attraction."

"But what if…" Bonnie trailed off. "I don't want to come between him and her."

"You kind of already are. And if there's even a small chance that you could affect them or are already affecting them, then the foundation of their relationship wasn't solid to begin with, and they probably shouldn't be together. Anyway, I honestly think you should just do whatever the hell you want." That was easy for her to say. "And I'm completely of the opinion that if you want him, you should take him, and make him suffer a bit along the way. I mean, you've done so much for so many people, so why not be selfish. Damn the consequences."

"Bekah," Bonnie gave her a disapproving glare.

"What?" She grinned deviously. "I was only playing devil's advocate with that last bit, but even if you ignore all I've just said, at the very least," she held up one of the dresses, a short skin tight dark purple one with no sleeves a plunging neckline in the shape of a V that extended to a point just below her breasts. "You should make him suffer tonight."

Bonnie took the dress from her hands. "How are you even sure he's going to be there? For all we know, he probably went home."

Rebekah smiled. "He'll be there. I guarantee it. He may be an idiot, but he obviously cares about you too much to just let things be left the way they are."

"Hmm," Bonnie said, staring at the dress. It was simple enough and not as bad as some of the other dresses. She supposed it couldn't hurt to wear it.

They finished getting ready together, then headed over to the nightclub where Josh's party was being held. The two vampires arrived at ten, walking together past the line of people outside, waiting to get in. The person manning the door took one look at them and let them pass. Both Bonnie and Rebekah were well-known around this area.

The nightclub was teeming with mainly vampires, but Bonnie spotted a few humans, witches, and werewolves scattered about the crowd. Josh had rented out the upper level of the place and invited around sixty of his closest friends and acquaintances, many of which brought plus ones, so the place was packed. The moment they entered the building, Bonnie and Rebekah made their way up the stairs off to the side. It was sectioned off as a VIP area, but once again, she and Rebekah were instantly recognized by the person holding the guest list.

The moment they stepped onto the second floor, Marcel came up behind them and wrapped an arm around Rebekah's shoulder, planting a light kiss on her lips before he let go and pulled Bonnie into a brief hug. "How are my two favorite girls doing?" He laced his hand together with Rebekah's.

"We're good."

He stared at Bonnie, his smile stretching warmly. "Dress looks good on you B."

"Thanks." Bonnie smiled at him for the compliment, watching as Marcel turned to Rebekah next.

"And you look beautiful as always," he complimented her. He leaned down to kiss her again. Nowadays, those two were all over each other, and before they could start making out, Bonnie excused herself.

"I'm going to go get a drink and maybe find the birthday boy."

She didn't wait for either one of them to respond before she left them to their own devices. The upper level was half the size of the lower level which was already pretty large, and there was a balcony overlooking everything going on the floor below. Across from the balcony, on the other side of the floor was the bar. Bonnie made her way over there, greeting people she knew as she went, and at the same time being greeted by people she didn't quite know. When she reached the bar, she was tempted to order some tequila on the rocks, but she couldn't resist ordering bourbon neat instead.

When her drink came, she took it and walked back across the floor towards the balcony. She told herself she wasn't looking for him, but her eyes lingered on any man with dark hair in all black.

"Bonnie!" She heard a familiar voice call.

She turned around and Hayley was headed straight for her. When she reached her, the vampire-werewolf hybrid wrapped her in a hug. Bonnie greeted her, hugging her back. "Your dress is amazing."

Bonnie smiled. "Thanks. Yours is amazing too." She wore a short black, off the shoulder dress that flared out at the waist.

"How are the werewolves and vampires that came from the facility doing?" Once they'd rescue them, Hayley had taken most of them to New Orleans. This city was a haven for supernaturals against hunters of any kind since a spell was put in place as a sort of barrier between the city and those a part of the hunter group known as the Venators. Not every hunter was officially a part of that group though, and in the vampire dominated parts of the city, Marcel constantly had people on the lookout.

"They're adjusting. Only a few of them are here tonight. Marcel prohibited some of the vampires from coming because they haven't quite mastered their bloodlust, and some of the werewolves are too prejudiced against vampires to let them come to an event like this."

"You still have your work cut out for you then."

"Yeah," she looked away for a moment. "Are you stopping by sometime next week?"

"Is Klaus going to be in?"

"Probably. You know his only focus these days is Hope. Well, Hope and sleeping around with the entirety of the New Orleans female population."

"Is he here?"

She looked around. "He's somewhere around here."

"Really? I'm surprised he was invited."

"I'm not sure he was, but you never know with him these days. Maybe he's trying to turn over a new leaf with Josh. He does have more sway with the vampires than Klaus does at the moment."

"It's not likely that Klaus of all people would care about who holds sway. If he needs something done, he's changed enough that he'll suggest nicely first, but if he doesn't get his way, I still wouldn't put it past him to manipulate and threaten."

Hayley shrugged. "You're right, but sometimes that is the only way to get things done around here."

So Bonnie had learned over the years. Even she has done her fair share of threatening people's lives.

Suddenly, Bonnie could feel someone's eyes on her, and somehow she already knew who it would be when she turned to look at him. She wasn't sure how he had gotten access to the upper level, but he stood against the wall, watching her with a drink already in hand. He seemed content where he was, glass in hand while he spoke to the birthday boy of all people.

Hayley turned to follow her gaze. "Is that – "

"Damon Salvatore," Bonnie finished for her and turned back to Hayley.

"What is he doing here? And he knows Josh?"

"He doesn't know him, but he met him once."

Rebekah appeared in her line of sight, headed towards her. She joined the two girls near the railing. "What did I tell you, Bon?"

Bonnie took another sip of her drink while Rebekah smirked at her. "Are you going to talk to him or should we mess with him a bit first, make him a little jealous?"

A smile came to her face as she snorted and shook her head at the suggestion. "Yeah, I doubt doing anything like that would work."

"Anything like what?" Hayley stood there, looking between the two of them, confused at what they were talking about.

"Inside joke," Rebekah explained, but Josh appeared before Hayley could ask any further.

Everyone greeted him with a chorus of happy birthdays, each one of them giving him a hug. He sidled up next to Bonnie with a sly look on his face.

"So I met your friend again, the one who was with you when we ran into each other at that party in Kansas," Josh said.

"What did you talk about?" Bonnie asked.

"You mostly. I asked him if you were his date, but he said he was only here to see you. You sure nothing's going on there?"

"Oh. Something's going on," Rebekah said, but she offered no further explanation, letting Bonnie decide how much she wanted to tell them.

"So there's a history there," Josh inferred.

"Not the kind of history you think," Bonnie said.

"Then what happened if you don't mind me asking."

"Long story short, we were best friends until he abandoned everyone he cared about for eight years, including me, and now he's trying to make it up to me."

"I'm sensing a lot of details have been left out."

"Yeah…" She looked over at Damon, finding him through the crowd of people dancing. He was still watching her. "But I don't want to talk about him anymore. I'm going to dance."

Bonnie finished off the rest of her drink, placed it on a nearby table and disappeared into the crowd, not caring if anyone joined her.

Like she always did when she danced, Bonnie allowed herself to lose track of everything around her and let loose. She swayed her hips to the quick beat of the song playing over the speakers and it wasn't long before someone eased up behind her. "Mind if I dance with you?" Turning to see who it was, Bonnie recognized him as one of the newer vampires who had blatantly professed an interest in her before. What the hell. He was cute, and she let him dance with her as she tried to forget the fact that she felt a certain set of eyes on her the entire time. Let him watch, she thought to herself.

They danced like that through a song and a half before the guy behind her suddenly stopped. He backed off, and she knew who had replaced him the moment his hands touched her hips. "Klaus," she said in greeting, slowing her movements.

"Little witch." He returned. "You look rather alluring tonight."

"Thank you." She turned around in his arms, and stopped moving entirely though he kept his hands on her hips. She placed her hands on his shoulders and they began a slow sway despite the fast paced music playing in the club.

"Trying to seduce someone?"

"Not in the slightest."

"Or are you trying to make our old friend jealous."

"I'm not trying to make him anything."

Klaus leaned in close to her ear, bringing his arms fully around her, and pressing their bodies together. "Then perhaps maybe you'll grace me with your presence in my bed tonight."

Bonnie rolled her eyes, catching sight of Damon walking off somewhere. "Not going to happen." He backed off, his hands returning to where they were on her hips. "I didn't expect you here tonight," she said. "Though maybe I should have since you seem to be sleeping your way through New Orleans, and what better way to find a new conquest than lurking around a nightclub."

He shrugged, eyeing her. "Maybe I'm not in the mood for something new."

"You're only saying that because he's here and you want to stir shit up for your own entertainment."

Klaus smirked. "Don't you want to see how he'll react? I bet he'd throw a tantrum if I told him about our little torrid yet short-lived affair." And what a mistake that was though she couldn't say she hadn't enjoyed it.

Bonnie smiled coldly at the original hybrid. "If one word of our little fling leaves your mouth tonight, I'll desiccate you where you stand." The threat was an exaggeration, the first thing she could think of. She wouldn't do it and he knew she wouldn't, but hell if she wouldn't get back at him somehow.

"Ah," one of his hands left her hips and his finger brushed across the onyx stone necklace hanging from her neck. "Maybe before your little predicament, you might've been able to do something like that, but now?"

"Don't underestimate me, hybrid. I'm sure you remember the last time that happened," she smirked.

The shape of his own smirk changed ever so slightly, and he chuckled. Suddenly the air between them lightened. "Oh, I remember, but relax. I was only joking, love. My lips are sealed." His eyes flicked over to the bar, and Bonnie followed them to see Damon speaking with a woman. "What is he doing here anyway? I believed you were done with the Mystic Falls riff raff, especially him after what he did."

"He wants to repair our friendship."

He scoffed. "I wouldn't describe the way he was looking at you earlier as friendly. What of the doppelganger?"

"He's still with her."

Klaus stared at her for a moment. "He must be blind if he can't see that she doesn't hold a candle to you."

She smiled again at his words, only this time it was less icy and more wry. "I appreciate the sentiment, but I'm still not sleeping with you."

He chuckled again with an amused smirk. "You always see right through me, little witch."

Unable to help herself, she turned to look for Damon again and found him standing next to Marcel, talking to him at the bar. Their eyes meet again and Damon said something to Marcel before he pushed off the bar and began to walk towards them.

Bonnie looked at Niklaus who was already looking at Damon approaching.

"Behave Niklaus."

"You know as well as anyone that I've been on my best behavior these days."

He straightened up as Damon came closer and hung an arm loosely around Bonnie's shoulder. Damon stopped in front of them, his eyes were only on Bonnie even when Klaus began to speak. "New Orleans welcomes you Damon Salvatore. I don't suppose you've brought your better half."

Damon finally broke their gaze to look at Klaus. "Stefan is currently preoccupied with his wife."

Klaus' smile faltered. "Yes, well, send Caroline my regards the next time you see her."

Damon sneered. "Still pathetically pining after blondie I see."

Klaus bristled. "Careful, Salvatore. This is my territory, my city, and with one word from me-"

Christ. Less than a minute and this was already going left. "Klaus," Bonnie said, placing a hand on his chest. "Please?"

Staring at her for a moment longer, he removed his arm from around Bonnie's shoulder. "You're lucky. I'm forever indebt to Bonnie and for some reason she apparently still cares for you when we both know she shouldn't, but I'll leave you two to speak."

He disappeared, leaving her and Damon alone. "Come with me?" He asked, and the moment she nodded, he unexpectedly grabbed her hand and pulled her off the dance floor to an empty spot against the wall. The fact that they were holding hands distracted her. His touch, unlike Klaus', made her hand hot and sent shocks shooting through her fingertips, but when they stopped, Damon dropped her hand, leaving it cold.

Standing in front of her, Damon didn't look happy. In fact, his expression was almost pissed with his jaw clenching the way it did whenever he became angry in the past. She could see him fighting to reel it in while she gave him a once over, lamenting how good he looked in his black ensemble with a suit jacket on instead of the leather one he'd been wearing the day before. "What is it?" Bonnie asked.

"What the hell was that with you and Klaus Mikaelson?"

"None of your business."

"None of my business?" He stepped closer leaving only a few inches between them. "How is it that you're even giving someone like him the time of day, and you won't even talk to me?"

"At the moment, you and I are far more complicated than me and Klaus."

"Is there something happening there?"

She raised her eyebrows. "Are you turning green, Damon?"

That made him pause. He blew out a breath, seemingly trying to calm down. "I'm not jealous. I'm worried. You've clearly been sipping too much of the original Kool-Aid."

She folded her arms across her chest. "Since you're so _worried_ , I'll tell you that Klaus and I are currently something like frenemies at best, much like you and I used to be before I died the first time."

"So what? He's my replacement?"

"I don't see him and I ever becoming anywhere near as close as we were."

He leaned further towards her, forcing her to look up at him. His downturned lips turned up slightly and in that instant, she realized she inadvertently mollified him. "Is that your way of saying I'm irreplaceable?"

Though he stood close to her, Bonnie didn't move away from him. "Don't flatter yourself."

As they watched one another, a different kind of intensity made it's way back into his eyes. Damon's gaze dropped and traveled down the length of her body. He had a way of looking at a woman and making her feel naked which was exactly what he was doing to Bonnie as he drank in her appearance. Slowly, he took in the length of the dress' plunging neckline, and she could practically feel her skin heating under his gaze, almost as if she were still human. "You look good."

She could have said the same about him, from the perfect cut of his hair to the perfect way his clothes fit him, but she didn't. "What do you want, Damon?"

"After our conversation was cut short yesterday, the original barbie accosted me as I was leaving." He sounded annoyed.

"I heard."

"She told me I should be groveling at your feet and begging your forgiveness after she called me an idiot, then, to my surprise, she told me she was your best friend now among a few other things."

"What things?"

He ignored her question. "And so I decided to come here because I needed to ask you something."

"What is it then?"

"Did you miss me when I first left?"

"What kind of a question is that. We were best friends."

"And do you miss me now? You said you don't want me in your life, you said you can't forgive me, but do you still miss me?"

She could have lied and said no, but she didn't. The honest answer was a little bit more complicated. She was silent for a second too long.

"Let me put it this way. Do you _want_ me to try?"

She hesitated again before she answered, but that hesitation probably told him more than she intended. "I don't care. You're going to do whatever you want to do anyway."

"But I'm asking what _you_ want. Give me a straight answer. Yes or no."

Bonnie's eyes were locked on his as her earlier conversation with Rebekah flitted through the back of her mind. As much as she denied it, she had missed him since the moment he desiccated, and even now there was a part of her that still missed him, but she missed the person that he'd been when they'd hung out, had movie nights, and been able to freely call one another when they felt alone. What she didn't miss was the person who abandoned her, and unfortunately, those two people were one in the same. Still, all of that was beside the point. "Damon, even if I were to forgive you, I can't be anything with you."

"Why is that exactly?"

As they watched one another, Bonnie still couldn't bring herself to fully admit it aloud to him. "Like I said before, you've made your choice, and I don't want to come between that."

"You won't."

She shook her head. "Don't kid yourself."

The sound of people loudly singing happy birthday brought them both out of their little bubble, and they both looked over at the crowd of people that had gathered around one of the tables where Josh stood in the center. The silence between Damon and her lingered louder than the music playing in the background. "Just accept that we'll never be friends again and move on. It'll make it easier for the both of us."

"That's the problem, Bon-bon. For some reason, I can't accept it."

Bonnie was tired of talking about this. "Then you should continue not accepting it away from me in Mystic Falls. Go home to your girlfriend, Damon. I'm sure she misses you."

She left him standing there as she walked over to the throng of people gathered around Josh, but she took one look back at him to find him still watching her with one of his unreadable expressions. After that, she didn't see him again for the rest of the night.

* * *

 **A/N: So Rebekah has meddled a little bit with advice to both of them which I hope made sense, and I figured if we can have Stefan as the Bamon Fanboy, then in this story we can have Rebekah the Bamon Fangirl trying to nudge them in the right direction even though Bonnie is still struggling not to deny her feelings.**

 **ALSO, there may be some people who read the last chapter's author note before I made the edit in parenthesis, so to clear up any confusion as to the possible length of this story, there are waay more than two chapters left. I couldn't imagine ending this that quickly when I've barely touched upon certain things that have been mentioned.**


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

 _"Well, I think it was."_

 _Bonnie blew out a long breath. "I don't know why we're even talking about this. He will always care about her more than he cares about me."_

* * *

Damon hung back for a moment, watching her walk away. Bonnie was in rare form, the epitome of perfection from the way her hair was curled down to the black nail polish on her dainty little toes. She had smelled good too, like fresh honeysuckle covered in morning dew, and her skin glowed even in the dim lighting of the nightclub, begging to be touched. It didn't help that her dress was a thin fabric that hugged every inch of her, and that plunging neckline drew his attention to the curve of her breasts more than once. Since the moment he saw her, he would be lying if he said he hadn't once imagined what it would be like to tear that dress off her.

She glanced back at him.

When their eyes met, her expression was guarded, and he was struck by an urge to follow her, but he remained where he was as she disappeared into the crowd. Their conversations about their relationship continually ended with interruption or Bonnie's dismissal of him, but Damon wasn't done. Bonnie may think she might come between him and Elena, but he knew how to control himself. Tonight was proof of that. Though he had been in her personal space, he resisted the temptation to test her boundaries. To him, this was proof they could still be friends if he could just convince her to give him another chance, and after what Rebekah said to him the day before, he wasn't the least bit inclined to give up...

 _Damon left Rousseau's, taking one last look at Bonnie and Marcel before he opened the door and walked out into the warm night air. His meeting with Bonnie could've gone better, but that was likely the best he was going to get from her at the moment. At least she seemed less angry at him and far more open than she had been three months ago. That was more than he could've asked for. She had also told him that she couldn't give him what he wanted "right now", so perhaps that meant she'd be open to it in the future. Damon knew he was grasping at straws, but he would take what he could get from her._

 _He paused in step as Rebekah Mikaelson appeared in his path, her arms folded across her chest. "Did you think you were going to leave without a word from me?"_

 _"What do you want?" Damon's tone was curt. He had no desire to speak with the original vampire._

 _She stepped up to him, glaring. "When it comes to her, I hope you know you're a bloody idiot."_

 _He did already know that, but he was not in the mood to hear it from her of all people. "Bonnie and I have nothing to do with you."_

 _She ignored him and kept speaking. "Honestly, you should be groveling at her feet for what you did."_

 _He scowled at her. "Has anyone ever told you that you should mind your own business?"_

 _"Considering how I'm her best friend now, she is my business. She told me all about being trapped in 1994 with you, everything that happened in Mystic Falls after the fact, and your little European tour with the history teacher. She also told me what led up to you leaving, Kai, the spell on Elena, and the way you left her. She told me how much it hurt her, and I saw the way she cried when she finally read your letter."_

 _Cried? He furrowed his brow. That wasn't what he heard. "She told me she tore it up and threw it in a fireplace."_

 _Rebekah shook her head. "Only after she locked herself in her room and finally properly grieved over you. She had accepted she was never going to see you again, and then she became a vampire and everything that happened three months ago happened. You need to either fully dedicate yourself to her or let her go."_

 _Damon sighed. "I'm trying."_

 _"You're not trying hard enough. Bonnie deserves the world after everything she's been through."_

 _"I'm the last person you need to tell that to."_

 _"No. You weren't here, so you couldn't possibly understand the weight behind that sentiment anymore." Rebekah scoffed. "It's sad. She missed you for the longest time, probably still misses you even though she would never tell you. And from one look at you two speaking to one another, I can tell you're both being as dense as rocks about how you feel towards one another or at least pretending to be. But you've proven yourself to be a selfish asshole, so if you're going to put in effort, you need to think about what she wants, not just what you want. And if you're not here to give her whatever that is, then you should run back to your second-rate doppelganger because if you break Bonnie's heart again, you won't just have me to worry about."_

As much as Damon disliked her, Rebekah had given him some insight into how much Bonnie had sequestered her emotions behind all the anger. Now, he was more confident that Bonnie still cared about him, not just about whether he lived or died, but about him as a person and their relationship. Bonnie had also confirmed as much earlier. When he'd asked her if she wanted him to try and fix things, her lack of an answer said more than she probably thought it did, but he was done pressing her for the night. He would leave her alone for now.

Damon took one last look at Bonnie before he made his way down to the first level of the club. He intended to leave when he ran across Elijah and Marcel speaking to one another. He caught the tail end of their conversation.

"That's the second hunter this week. They are not working alone. There must be a witch involved or how else would they come through the barrier." Elijah was saying.

"Hmm, despite hunting them, they have let witches live in the past if they served a purpose." Marcel said.

"For the time being, we should increase patrols and keep an eye on the covens in the quarter." Elijah's eyes wandered over to Damon approaching. "But perhaps we should speak about the details later."

As Damon came closer, Elijah nodded in greeting.

"Long time no see, Elijah." He looked the same as ever, stiffly dressed in a too formal three piece suit even though they were in the middle of a nightclub.

"Yes, I believe the last time was during the whole cure debacle in Mystic Falls."

Damon nodded. "Fun times." He switched the subject back to their earlier conversation. "From what I just heard, it sounds like you have a hunter problem. Is that serious?" His first thought was to worry over Bonnie's safety even though he knew she could handle herself.

"We have had the occasional trouble with hunters in recent years, but it remains to be seen how serious these latest attacks are."

Marcel interjected with a smirk on his face. "If you're looking for an excuse to stick around, I won't say no to help from another experienced vampire. We've lost quite a few over the past few years, and we've been losing more and more the longer this threat goes on."

"I'll think about it."

"Let me know if you change your mind." Marcel took his leave of them, leaving Elijah and Damon alone.

"I assume you've come to pry your way back into Bonnie's good graces."

Elijah knew too? "Do all of you know what happened between me and her?"

"None of the minutiae, but I have heard something of your desiccation. And I would strongly advise against hurting her again or…"

Damon waved a dismissive hand. "Yeah yeah. I get it. I've been threatened by Rebekah already."

As if on some instinct, Damon looked up at the top of the stairs and saw Bonnie standing near the balcony again, surrounded by people he didn't know. Elijah followed his gaze.

"You know, lately, she reminds me of her sometimes."

Damon was lost. "Her?"

"Katherine."

The two women were on different non-intersecting planes in Damon's mind. One was much high than the other, so the thought to compare the two had never crossed his mind. "I don't see it."

"Bonnie is a powerful, fierce woman who is trying to survive in a world out to get her, the same way Katherine was. And like Katherine, people often find themselves drawn to her not only because she's beautiful, but because there is an allure about her that hints at there being much more than meets the eye."

Damon considered what he said. Maybe that was true, but Bonnie was everything Katherine wasn't. Bonnie was compassionate. She cared about other people to the point where she would sacrifice everything for those she loved. Katherine had only ever cared about herself. "Are you saying you're drawn to her?"

"No. I'm simply saying I can see why you are." He continued. "Many people fear her as much as they love her. Bonnie has that much power here, and she has learned to use it to her advantage."

"I don't suppose you'll tell me what she did to gain that much power."

"She has only saved the entirely of New Orleans, including my family twice over," his gaze wandered out over the crowd, "but that is quite a long story. If you'll excuse me, I must take care of some business before the night is over."

With that, Elijah disappeared off somewhere, and Damon left for the night, his thoughts still centered on Bonnie and what she might've done to save the city. Whatever it was, it had to have been big for her to have the Mikaelsons wrapped around her finger the way they were.

* * *

The next morning, Damon woke up in his hotel room to the sound of his phone ringing. Groggily reaching a hand out to the nightstand beside the bed, Damon picked up his phone and looked at it. It was still early in the morning, and Stefan's name was written across the screen. He answered and sat up as his brother's voice flitted through the phone.

"Good morning," Damon greeted his brother cheerily.

"How are things going with Bonnie?"

"She's absolutely peachy," he said sarcastically. "Still being stubborn, but I haven't given up yet. I'm assuming you've called for a reason?"

His brother hummed affirmatively through the line. "Do you know where Elena thinks you are?"

Damon hadn't spoken to her since he'd arrived in New Orleans yet, so… "In New York."

"Not only does she think you're in New York, she's gotten it in her head that you're cooking up some surprise for her because you told her you were going to propose soon."

"When I said soon, I didn't exactly mean this soon—"

"Damon, you need to call her and tell her where you are."

He sighed. "I will."

Damon expected his brother to get off the phone, but he could sense he had something else to say. "Are you actually serious about marrying Elena?"

Damon frowned. "You sound doubtful. I thought you might be happy I was finally settling down."

"Are you sure you want to settle down with her?"

"You don't think I'm ready to settle down." The statement doubled as a question.

"Let me rephrase the question. Are you sure she's the one you want to settle down with?"

"As opposed to…"

"Don't play dumb."

"Bonnie isn't an option in that regard. According to her, we're not even friends right now."

"And if she was an option?"

It took him a moment to answer. "Elena is it for me."

"And you're sure? If Bonnie confessed that she had feelings for you, you're telling me that you wouldn't waver in the slightest?"

Damon didn't answer right away, because thinking about Bonnie coming to him and professing that she loved him was absurd, and yet the thought made his chest clench in a strange way. "There is no point in speaking in hypotheticals."

"Is that an admission?"

"Any man would be tempted if their best friend was a woman like her. Why are you pushing this?"

"Because look where you are. Anyone with eyes can see that you and Bonnie… have a thing, and the fact that you just admitted what you just did to me means that maybe you need to take a second and actually think about whether or not you want to spend the rest of your life with Elena before you fully commit with something like marriage."

This conversation was grating on his nerves. "I didn't admit anything, and as much as I enjoy you playing therapist and giving unsolicited advice, I've got to go."

Damon didn't wait for Stefan to say goodbye before he hung up and ran a frustrated hand through his hair, wishing he hadn't answered the phone. Determined not to think about what his brother had said, Damon hopped into the shower to get dressed, but his mind wandered back to the conversation anyway.

Stefan had dredged up the thoughts Damon constantly suppressed. Yes, he felt something towards Bonnie, but it wasn't the same as what he felt towards Elena. He loved Elena, loved being with her, enjoyed their relationship. And yet when they did simple things together like shopping or watching TV, Damon would sometimes imagine doing them with Bonnie instead. He missed the playful arguments, the easy back and forth they'd once had, and with Elena, it wasn't the same. If he were to compare the two and choose which one he would rather do those things with, the answer was not what it should be. But that could only be due to how Bonnie has distanced herself from him. Before he desiccated, they spent a lot of time together, so after the way she cut him off, it was only natural that he would miss her presence, wasn't it?

But there was also the physical attraction. They were both beautiful in different ways, and Damon was still attracted to Elena, but lately, things had begun to feel less than what they had, and sometimes he felt like he was just going through the motions. That didn't mean Damon didn't still love her. He did, and he believed that what he felt towards Elena might be natural progression of their relationship as things calmed down. But every so often Bonnie would invade his mind when he should be focused on her.

The worst moment was when he'd first came back to Mystic Falls. He and Elena were having sex, but during the whole thing, he was still hung up on Bonnie and the shitty goodbye text she'd sent, so he thought of her. That was his first mistake. Thinking of Bonnie during sex led to thoughts of her biting him, of how good it felt to have her sink her teeth into his flesh, and how much better it would have been if he'd been fucking her at the same time. Soon he was imagining Bonnie in place of Elena, and the image of her writhing beneath him instead of Elena had sent him over the edge. Guilt pestered his conscience after the fact, but despite the guilt, he still had the occasional fantasy. He couldn't help but be curious as to what she might feel like underneath him or better yet, on top of him with those smooth legs of hers wrapped around his waist and his fingers digging into her perfect ass while she bounced atop him.

Damon cut that last thought off, dipping his head under the shower water to clear his mind.

He may have feelings for Bonnie, and he may want her, but that wasn't what he _wanted_ from her. He wanted to return to the way things were. Stefan, like Bonnie, was trying to turn it into a choice between Bonnie and Elena, and Damon was annoyed that nobody was acknowledging that it didn't have to be.

Pushing his thoughts to the back of his mind, he exited the shower. Wrapping a towel around his waist, he walked out of the bathroom. His phone was on the bed where he left it, and Damon thought he might as well get it over with. He grabbed the phone, opened up the contacts, and scrolled down to Elena's name. He pressed the button to call her, and she answered on the second ring.

"Hey, how's New York?"

"I'm... actually in New Orleans right now."

There was a moment of silence. "Why are you in New Orleans?" Damon could hear the frown in her voice. "Isn't that where Klaus and the rest of the Originals are?"

"It's also where Bonnie is."

"Wait what? What's she doing there?"

"When I was in New York, I met with an old friend who told me where she was, and when I found out, I had to make sure she was okay."

"Well, is she?"

"Yeah, she's fine."

"Good. Well…I think it's good that you're trying to reconnect with Bonnie, but when are you coming back? I'm getting ready for the move tomorrow, and I could really use your help. I mean Stefan and Caroline have also promised to help tomorrow, but they're busy today."

Shit. Damon had forgotten. "I'll come back before tomorrow."

"Okay. I'll see you soon then. I miss you."

"Miss you too."

Damon ended the call and got dressed. When he was fully clothed, he headed out to find Bonnie and speak to her one last time before he left to help Elena, but he had no intentions of staying away for long. He went back to the address Stefan had given him the day before.

He knocked on the door, and not long after he heard the sound of small footsteps approaching from beyond it. The door opened and a little girl who couldn't be more than ten or eleven peeked her head through. Her auburn colored hair was pulled back into a pony tail and she had inquisitive light blue eyes that seemed to know what he was the moment she laid eyes on him. "Are you looking for my father?"

Her father? "I'm looking for Bonnie."

She tilted her head to the side. "Bonnie? Why are you looking for Bonnie?"

"I need to speak with her."

The little girl opened the door further and approached him then. She held out her hand. Damon stared at it, confused for a moment. She looked down to where his own hands rested at his sides, then back up at him. Still unsure of whether to trust this little girl, he hesitated. "If you give me your hand, I'll tell you where she is."

After another second, reluctantly, Damon extended his hand. She took it and closed her eyes for a moment. He could sense the magic the child was using, and he began to pull his hand away, but she gripped it tighter. She had an unusually strong grip for a child. Another moment passed and she opened her eyes to look at him.

She smiled a secretive smile.

"What did you do?"

"I did a reading on you to check your intentions. My father says I should be wary of strangers, but I didn't get a bad feeling from you." Her smile widened. "Bonnie's favorite flowers are blue orchids, by the way."

This child was strange, and Damon was growing impatient. "Do you know where she is or not?"

"Well, Bonnie actually doesn't live here anymore. She lives—"

"Princess, where have you gone to?" Damon heard a familiar voice call. Then it clicked as to whose child this was, and Damon felt like an idiot for not noticing the resemblance sooner. Klaus appeared, and there was a content smile on his face when he looked at his daughter that Damon only saw in the half a second it took for Klaus to notice him. That half a second was more disturbing than anything Damon had experienced in his life.

The hybrid's smile fell as he came to stand beside the little girl. He placed a tense, protective hand on her shoulder. "Salvatore. I see you've met my daughter, Hope."

"This is your home." Considering that Hope had just said Bonnie didn't live here _anymore_ , that meant that at some point, Bonnie had lived together with Klaus. The thought made Damon's stomach curdle.

"It is, and I assume you're looking for Bonnie."

"Dad," Hope interrupted, "I did a reading on him the way Ivy taught me." Looking proud of herself, she tugged on his shirt and motioned for him to bring his head closer to hers. Klaus complied, and the little girl looked over at him as she whispered something into her father's ear low enough for Damon not to hear.

When she finished whispering, Klaus turned back towards her with his eyebrows raised. "And you're sure, love?"

She nodded her head as Klaus stood to his full height in a more relaxed stance. "Her apartment is 306 in the building on the corner of Iberville and Dauphine street." Hope said to Damon.

Klaus interjected. "Though you may not find her there. I've heard that Bonnie is assisting my brother and Marcel today."

"Why are you helping me?" He directed his question towards Klaus.

He looked down at his daughter and the implication was clear. Whatever she had said to Klaus was the reason why. "My daughter seems to have taken a liking to you, but do not expect me to be so kind next time."

Uncomfortable with receiving help from Klaus Mikaelson with no strings attached, Damon bit out a word of thanks to both of them. As he left, Hope called out to him. "Good luck!"

The apartment building wasn't that far of a walk from Klaus' home. It was a large luxury apartment building, and nicely decorated with a beige and gray theme. Damon went inside and found the elevator. Walking into it just as a family was walking out, he pressed the button for the third floor. Bonnie's apartment wasn't that far from the elevator and he knocked a few times, but there was no answer, and Damon couldn't hear anyone on the other side. Like Klaus had said, Bonnie wasn't home.

Damon pulled out his phone and called her, but she didn't pick up. He was about to leave a voice message, but he hung up instead. Gripping his phone, he thought about calling one of the Originals and tracking her down, but then he decided against it. He had promised he would help Elena with moving, and he needed to get a flight back soon. Bonnie would have to wait. In the meantime, thinking back on what Hope said, he made another call instead.

* * *

By the end of the day, Damon was back in Mystic Falls, and the next day, he helped Elena move out of the boarding house and into her quaint little apartment outside of Whitmore. It didn't take long between him and Stefan doing the heavy lifting. Caroline had to handle some business regarding her mother's house, so it was only the three of them. Luckily, they had moved beyond the awkwardness of their past love triangle, but Stefan and Damon still didn't speak much to one another, preferring to work together in a comfortable silence.

When all the boxes and furniture were in the apartment, they headed back downstairs where Damon found Elena talking with another building resident. He looked like another college student and was obviously trying to flirt by the way he was looking at her.

Not worried, Damon ignored it, and the two brothers made their way back outside to the empty moving van.

"Are you bothered by that?" Stefan asked, nodding in Elena's direction as he closed up the back of the vehicle.

Damon glanced at them. "Nope. He's not Elena's type."

"Would you be bothered if it was Bonnie?"

Damon gave Stefan a look, and Stefan only shrugged his shoulders. "I'm just trying to help you sort out your feelings."

"Your help isn't necessary."

Stefan leaned against the van beside him. "What happened with her in New Orleans anyway?"

"We talked. I asked her if she wanted me to keep trying to make it up to her and she wouldn't give me a straight answer, but she basically said that she still can't forgive me and even if she did, she thinks us having a friendship is going to come between me and Elena."

"Hm," was all Stefan said, but it was loaded.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It doesn't mean anything."

His phone vibrated in the back pocket of his black jeans. Taking it out, the corner of his mouth quirked up as he saw who it was. In his peripheral, he saw Stefan raise an eyebrow as he opened the message.

 _Thank you, but giving me things isn't going to change how I feel._

 _I know, but did you like them?_ He responded.

Damon saw the three dots moving across his screen, and watched them until they stopped and disappointment began to set in. Damon was about to put his phone back in his pocket when it buzzed again. _I did, but who told you those were my favorites?_

He smirked at his phone. _Would_ _you be impressed if I told you I guessed?_

Her response came in less than ten seconds this time. _I'd think you were lying._

 _You'd be right._

 _So who was it?_ Bonnie had asked.

 _Don't worry about it._

 _Did the same person also tell you where I live?_

 _They did._

 _You won't tell me who, will you?_

 _Nope. So how many conversations do I get?_

She didn't respond right away, and Damon looked up from his phone to find Stefan watching him.

"Are you texting Bonnie?" Stefan asked.

"None of your business."

He perked up. "You are, aren't you?"

Seconds later Elena came back to them and handed the moving van keys to Damon, saying something about how the guy she'd been talking to was living on the same floor as her, but at the same time, Damon got another text message from Bonnie. He looked down at his phone, reading her message in the notifications. _Sending me gifts won't fix anything. This isn't going to be a thing._

"I'll go ahead and take the moving van back." Stefan said, grabbing the keys from Damon.

He opened the message and responded. _We should make it a thing. I'm actually doing what you told me to, so you can't be mad._

"Thanks for your help today Stefan." Elena was saying to his brother.

"No problem."

Damon and his brother nodded wordlessly at one another and Stefan looked at the phone as it buzzed in his hand with a small smirk just as Damon looked down at the phone as well.

 _How are you doing what I told you to?_

He and Elena headed to the elevator while she talked about meeting her new neighbor. Damon absentmindedly listened while he responded to Bonnie.

 _I'm not accepting that we can't be friends away from you in Mystic Falls,_ he typed, though it occurred to him that he currently wasn't exactly in Mystic Falls. Damon sent the text before the elevator closed and he lost a signal.

His phone buzzed again the moment they got off. _Why are you so annoyingly persistent?_ He could almost see Bonnie's eyes rolling.

 _Isn't that your favorite quality of mine?_

They came to the door and Elena unlocked it. "I'm starving. Early dinner?"

"Yeah."

 _No, it isn't._

 _Then what is?_

Elena walked around the piles of boxes and into the kitchen. Damon took a seat on the couch. "I haven't gone grocery shopping yet so pizza or Chinese?"

 _Are you actually fishing for compliments right now?_ Bonnie texted him back.

"You haven't had Chinese in a while," Damon said as his hands flitted across his screen.

 _Would you rather I compliment you, tell you my favorite quality of yours?_

Bonnie didn't respond right away. Damon had his phone beside him on the couch while Elena called and ordered. The seconds ticked by and he could hear Elena begin to open some of the boxes in the kitchen. Seconds turned into minutes, and Damon picked up his phone again. He texted Bonnie.

 _It's your strength just so you know._

Then for good measure, he added, _But your ability fail at cooking lasagna is a close second._

After a few seconds, she finally texted back. _We can't all be a master chef._

 _That's an overstatement. A little practice goes a long way._ "Who are you texting?" Elena asked. He had been unintentionally smirking, and his expression fell when he looked up at his girlfriend. Seeing her face, the slight frown and curiosity, the impulse to lie hit him, but he ignored it and told the truth.

"Bonnie."

"Is everything alright?"

"She's fine, but I was thinking about going back down to New Orleans next week. They have a hunter situation, and maybe I can be of some help."

There was a weird air between them as Elena sat down beside him, staring at his phone. "You're trying to go back already?"

Damon shrugged. "You'll be busy with school, so I figured I could make myself useful elsewhere."

She looked up at him, struggling to hide the displeasure on her face. "Can I ask you something?" He waited for her to continue. "Why didn't you tell me that you were going to New Orleans the moment you decided to go see her?"

"I didn't think to."

She tilted her head to the side. "Don't you think that's kind of strange? What if there was an emergency or something?"

"It didn't have anything to do with you, so I didn't think it was that important to tell you."

She looked away, fingering the edge of the pillow next to her. "I mean, I would've liked to see Bonnie too."

"I'm still trying to make up for what I've done. You being there would've made things worse."

Elena's gaze snapped to his and she sat up a little straighter. "What does that mean?"

"It means that I don't want to rub it in her face that I chose you over her when I desiccated."

"Okay." Her frown deepened at his words and a thick silence passed between them. "Did…did anything ever happen between you and Bonnie while I was gone?"

Damon tried to formulate a way to answer the question.

"And I never asked, but what about the prison world? You two were alone together for so long, I wouldn't blame you if something did happen."

There was a long pause before he next spoke. "Nothing actually happened, but... something almost did," Damon confessed.

"Something like what?" The suspicion on her face deepened to a borderline angry expression, and Damon could see her trying to hid it.

"We... almost kissed."

"When was that?"

"Prison world."

"And what about after?"

Damon hesitated. Between him and Bonnie was a series of almosts, of moments where things could've happened, but never did. Nothing came close to what happened in 1994 though. More recently, however, there was Bonnie feeding on him. He wasn't sure whether to tell her about that or not, but he did know that telling her would open a can of worms he would rather keep closed. Damon decided against it. "Nothing happened after."

He could see the doubt in her brown eyes. "Why don't I believe you?"

"Nothing happened, Elena." He insisted, but there was an annoyed edge to his voice.

"Do you have feelings for Bonnie?" Her tone was accusatory.

He blew out a frustrated breath. "Why are you giving me the third degree?"

"Why are you getting defensive?"

His voice began to raise before he caught himself. "I'm not getting defensive."

"You didn't even answer the question. Be honest with me, Damon."

They stared at one another, and Damon relented. If she wanted honesty, he was going to give it to her. "Fine. I do feel something towards for Bonnie, but it-"

"Do you love her?" She interrupted before he could finish.

"I care about her."

"But do you love her?"

"Not the way that I love you."

She shook her head, still doubtful. "I don't know. It's really hard to believe you. The other day you were saying you were going to propose to me and now you've basically told me that you have feelings for another woman, so what am I supposed to think?"

"You're supposed to believe me when I say I love you, and all I want from Bonnie is friendship."

"If you want me to believe you, then I don't want you to go back there."

That was the one thing he couldn't do. Damon could not ignore the possibility of Bonnie being in danger, and he was not ready to let Bonnie go. He missed her too much, and she was just as important to him as Elena was. "I can't promise you I won't."

Elena stood up. The disappointment and anger was plain on her face. "Are you serious?"

"I'm not going to abandon her again, especially not when she could be in danger."

"Bonnie's a vampire-witch now. She can take care of herself, and aren't the Mikaelsons there too? They're stronger than you, Damon, and the situation will resolve itself. You're supposed to be here with me. You're supposed to be starting a life with me. You're not supposed to be throwing yourself back into danger."

"I'll be fine. I've done a few dangerous missions for Alaric already. This will be no different."

"You aren't going to change your mind on this," she realized.

He shook his head.

She folded her arms across her chest. "I see where your priorities lie then. Fine. Go to New Orleans. You obviously don't care about how I feel." Turning, she started to walk away.

"It honestly isn't this deep Elena. You're blowing this out of proportion."

She turned back around, and the distance between them had suddenly become palpable. "I'm blowing this out of proportion?" Scoffing at him, she raised her voice. "You know what, if fixing your relationship with Bonnie is more important than being with me and making me feel secure in this relationship, then maybe we should spend some time apart, so you can figure some things out."

She probably expected him to disagree, to keep fighting, but Damon was over this argument, and he was done being made to choose. He rose from the couch, his mouth set into a thin line of irritation. "Fine. Maybe we should."

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for the wait, but this chapter was a struggle because I'm being super indecisive about what I want to happen and I'm already struggling on the next one so I don't know how long that's going to take, but please be patient with me!**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

 _"Maybe it was the same. Maybe he loved you just as much as he loved her and it scared him."_

 _"That's not possible."_

* * *

The day after Damon left New Orleans, Bonnie was standing in her kitchen and drinking a blood bag for breakfast when her doorbell rang. Finishing the bag, she threw it away, and walked across the plush carpet of her apartment to answer the door. Through the peephole, she saw a man holding a vase filled with her favorite flowers. Curious, she opened the door and saw another man off to the side with several more vases on a cart.

Bonnie stared at the man in front of her, noting the business name "Tommy's Flowers" written across his polo. She had seen the name before on a flower shop not too far from her. "What is this?"

"Are you," he looked down at the paper in his free hand, "Bonnie Bennett?"

"Yes?"

He adjusted the vase in his hand, drawing her attention to it. "Special delivery."

"From who?"

The man motioned to the vase in his hand where a note sat in the center. "He preferred to remain anonymous, but there's a note and whoever it was bought all the blue orchids we had for you. Where do you want them?"

She opened the door further and motioned across the room. "You can put them on the counter in the kitchen."

After they placed all eight vases on the counter, Bonnie thanked them, and they left. She shut the door behind them and went back into her kitchen to look at the flowers. The blue and purple petals were vibrant, as if they had freshly bloomed, and they smelled wonderful. She pressed her nose to them, basking in the pleasant aroma.

Bonnie had an inkling as to who they were from, but it couldn't be him, could it? Her fingers brushed against the edge of a petal before she reached for the note in the center of the vase closest to her. She pulled it off the small folded card and opened it.

 _Even if you never speak to me again._

That was all it said.

She looked back at the flowers, thinking that it couldn't be anyone else but him now. She remembered their conversation the other day, the comment about her allotting him one conversation per flowers received. Moreover, the eight vases were also a giveaway. But how had he known that blue orchids were her favorites, or better yet, how had he known where she lived?

For the rest of the day, Bonnie had gone back and forth between whether or not to thank him. She didn't want to encourage him, but it was hard to ignore that he had gotten her favorites this time. And every time she walked through her apartment and smelled the flowers or saw the vibrant colors, she would involuntarily think of him. Eventually, she let her curiosity win out on the excuse that she needed to know who had told him where she lived. So, right before she went to get some late afternoon coffee with a few friends at Café Evie, Bonnie finally pressed send.

She only meant to find out who had told him, but she found herself texting back more than she intended. It was strange how easy it was to fall into a rhythm with him when she let herself. With the distance between them, without the distraction of his presence, things felt less complicated than they were, and it reminded her of old times.

Bonnie continued to text him until she and her friends had ordered and received their coffee and food. It wasn't until they sat down at one of their tables outside that she put her phone back in her pocket and tuned back into the conversation. The other girls were talking about whether or not they were going to Rousseau's after this.

"We both know you only want to go to Rousseau's because Collin might be there," Bonnie's friend, Lauren, was saying. She was a witch who Bonnie met in a business class at Tulane University. They were both business majors and had become quick friends after being in the same classes for a few semesters. Bonnie's other friend, Sadie, was a darker skinned woman who sported a long bob and bangs. She was an older vampire born in 1868 and was currently infatuated with a twenty-one-year-old warlock named Collin who liked to hang around vampires. The fact that he frequented Rousseau's was undeniably the reason she had just suggested they go there later.

"Sue me. The boy is beautiful," Sadie said. Bonnie didn't disagree. Collin was definitely easy on the eyes.

"He's definitely into you," Lauren said, taking a sip of her latte.

"From what I've seen, you have him drooling at your feet. I don't understand why you haven't gone there already," Rebekah said. Upon Bonnie's last-minute invitation, her best friend had opted to join them. They often all hung out together, forming a friendship primarily through Bonnie, though lately Sadie and Lauren often hung out with one another on their own.

"I don't want to ruin our little friendship, and besides," Sadie pointed a thumb in Bonnie's direction, "if anyone needs to get laid, it's Bonnie over here."

"Oh please," Bonnie said. Both Lauren and Sadie had been trying to find someone that piqued Bonnie's interest, but they haven't had any luck. Rebekah stayed out of it because she knew why Bonnie was reluctant to get involved with a guy.

Lauren's thin features curled into a smile. "Brendan has been circling you for a while." Brendan was a vampire, a young one who had been bordering the line between friendly and flirty with her for a while since she'd been back.

Bonnie shrugged. "Brendan is cute, but…"

"But?" Sadie pressed.

"I don't know. We get along, but I'm just not in the headspace to deal with a guy."

"Does this have anything to do with the guy you were talking to at Josh's birthday? The 'ex-friend'." Lauren made air quotations around the word "ex-friend".

Bonnie's lips curled downwards. "No. I told you he has a girlfriend."

"And yet, he was clearly super into you," Lauren said with a smirk.

Bonnie was itching to change the subject, but she had to ask. "Speaking of him," she turned toward Rebekah. "Did you tell him where I lived?"

That piqued Rebekah's interest. "No, I didn't. Why are you asking?"

"No reason." Bonnie took a bite out of her scone. If she didn't do it, who did? She wondered.

Sadie tilted her head curiously. "Did he show up at your place or something?"

"No. He just sent me something."

"Oo, what did he send you?" Lauren asked.

"Just a few bouquets of blue orchids, but I don't know how he knew those were my favorites or where I lived. Someone had to have told him."

Rebekah narrowed her eyes. Bonnie had tried to gloss over the amount, but her friend had picked up on her tone. "How many is a few?"

Bonnie's shoulders lifted in a shrug, trying to make it seem like it wasn't a big deal. "Eight vases."

They all looked at each other, and Bonnie immediately regretted telling them.

"That's…a lot," Sadie's eyebrows had raised a little in shock.

"Apparently, it was all the blue orchids they had."

"He's obsessed with you," Rebekah shook her head.

"And according to you, you haven't even slept with him," Lauren pointed out.

"Wait a minute," Sadie cocked her head to the side. "Is that who you were texting earlier?"

Bonnie shrugged again. "Maybe."

Rebekah, who was sitting beside Bonnie, turned fully towards her. "You were texting him!?" She asked incredulously.

"I thought you were still mad at him." Lauren furrowed her brow.

"Mad isn't the word for it. I'm still upset at what he did, and I don't trust him because of it, but I don't know. I cut him off three months ago, thinking that he would be happily married and living his life with his girlfriend, but he's still trying to fix things between us." Bonnie looked down at her coffee cup.

"Does that make you happy?" Sadie asked.

"Not necessarily happy, but…"

"But you secretly appreciate that he's still trying even though you want him to stop," Lauren finished for her.

"Something like that." Bonnie let out a long sigh, and went to take another sip of her coffee, finishing it off. "I'm going to go get a refill."

She stood up, heading back inside to the counter, but Rebekah followed her. The original vampire gently grabbed Bonnie's arm and pulled her to the side. From the serious look in her eyes, Bonnie knew she would not like whatever she said next.

"You haven't told him how you feel yet, have you?"

Bonnie shrugged. "Not exactly. I told him that he was kidding himself if he thought I wouldn't come between him and Elena."

"But you said nothing about how you feel. Bon…" She was frustrated with her. Bonnie could see it on her face.

"I know. I know. I just couldn't do it."

"Well I'm sure you'll get another chance because now that you've responded to him, I doubt he's any closer to giving up now."

* * *

Unfortunately, Rebekah was right. Two days later, Bonnie was lounging around her apartment and in the middle of going over one of her many grimoires she's collected over the years when Damon texted her. She stared at the message across her screen.

 _On a scale of one to ten, how mad would you be if I showed up outside of your apartment._

 _A six. Why?_ She looked over in the direction of her front door. He had better not be outside.

 _And if I showed up to actually grovel? How mad would you be then?_

 _Five._

 _No chance of that being any lower?_

 _Maybe if the begging included you bowing and kneeling before me._ Bonnie regretted pressing send on that message the moment after she hit the button. She should really stop enabling him.

 _Should I kiss your feet and call you mistress too?_

Okay. It was time to put an end to this. _Why are you texting me?_ He wasn't outside her door. Bonnie had been listening for movement, and she hadn't heard anything. Though that didn't mean he still couldn't show up.

 _Because I'm in town,_ he wrote. Then a few seconds later. _At Rousseau's._ That wasn't what Bonnie had been expecting.

 _Why are you at Rousseau's?_

 _Why don't you come and find out. ;)_

Bonnie put her phone down on the coffee table. She shouldn't. She really shouldn't, but Bonnie found herself closing the grimoire in front of her and standing up. She was curious as to why he was in town, but he was obviously baiting her. Still, she walked into her bathroom and checked her appearance. Her hair was loose around her face, and her make up from earlier in the day had faded. She fixed it so she at least looked presentable and threw her hair up into a ponytail. Clad in a long-sleeved shirt and jean shorts, Bonnie thought about changing, but decided against it. She wasn't trying to impress anyone, so all she did was throw on a pair of black ankle boots before she left.

Rousseau's was about a seven or eight minute walk from her apartment, but she was there in a fraction of that with her vampire speed. It looked crowded as usual that night, and she could already spot people she knew through the windows. Bonnie pulled open the door, and as soon as she walked in, she heard her name being called.

"Bonnie!" Her head snapped to the left of the room. It was Sadie. She was at a table in the corner seated next to Collin and Brendan. She waved Bonnie over.

"Hey." Sadie stood up and gave Bonnie a hug when she reached the table. Brendan stood and she gave him one as well. Over Brendan's shoulder she saw Damon sitting at the bar, watching her with drink in hand. She pulled back from Brendan and smiled at him. He was taller than her, but not as tall as Damon, and he had a grin that would make most girls weak in the knees, but Bonnie wasn't most girls.

"How've you been?" Brendan asked. "I don't think I've seen you since you and I danced at Josh's birthday."

"I've been alright."

From his seat, Collin nudged him in the leg subtly, but it wasn't subtle enough for Bonnie not to notice. Brendan glared at him before looking back at Bonnie with hopeful eyes. "Are you free tomorrow?"

"I'm on watch duty around the barrier and then I'm supposed to meet with Freya."

"Oh." He looked disappointed.

"Why?"

"I wanted to see if you were up for dinner."

Bonnie arched an eyebrow, the corner of her mouth lifting into a smirk. "Are you asking me out on a date, Brendan?"

He smirked back. "It's only a date if you want it to be."

Bonnie stared into his pretty brown eyes, fully aware of the blue ones burning a hole into the side of her head. "I'll think about it."

Before she could leave, Sadie stood and grabbed Bonnie's arm. She drew her off to the side to an empty spot against the wall. "Mr. tall, dark, and blue eyes has been sitting over there for a while," she whispered.

Bonnie hazarded a glance in his direction. He was no longer looking her way, but she knew he was waiting for her.

"I know. He's the reason I'm here."

She looked surprised, then smiled wryly. "Finally gonna bang him?"

Bonnie rolled her eyes and playfully hit her shoulder. "Stop. I have no intentions of sleeping with him, Sadie."

She chuckled. "Well, let me know how it goes then."

Bonnie nodded at her friend. "I'll see you later."

She started towards Damon, but as she weaved through the tables, she saw more familiar faces, and stopped to speak to them. The few she knew and didn't speak to nodded respectfully, and Bonnie dipped her head back in acknowledgement. When she reached the bar, she gracefully slid into the seat next to him.

He turned towards her and their legs brushed, his warmth sending familiar tingles through her skin. "Aren't you popular," he said, handing her a glass of bourbon.

Their fingers brushed as she took it from him, and her skin warmed again from the contact. She brought the glass to her mouth, eyeing him as she did. He wore a dark blue shirt and a pair of faded dark jeans underneath his usual leather jacket. It was simple, but he always managed to make simple look sexy. He smelled good too, the usual heady masculine scent of him mixing with the leather scent of his jacket.

"What are you doing back here?"

Not taking his eyes off her, he drank a bit from his own glass before he answered. "Helping out with the little issue you have down here. I've been tasked with assisting in hunting down the hunters."

That wasn't what Bonnie expected. "Tasked by who?"

"Marcel."

"Of course." Bonnie would have to talk to Marcel later. "So you're not leaving any time soon."

"Nope."

"What about Elena?"

His tore his eyes away from her. "What about Elena?" He echoed her question.

She couldn't be happy that he was inserting herself into a situation that could end up being dangerous, not when they were supposed to be off living their happily ever after. Bonnie took another sip of her drink. "She's okay with you being down here?"

The look on his face spoke volumes, and his next words were uttered with forced nonchalance. "She isn't, but I've come to help anyway."

"Out of the goodness of your heart?" Bonnie said sarcastically.

His mouth lifted into a half smirk. "Of course."

Bonnie adjusted her legs in her seat, crossing one of the other so their legs no longer touched. She leaned an elbow onto the counter while she fingered her drink. "But seriously, why did you really come back here?"

The smirk left his face as he shrugged. "I don't like that you're having to deal with another dangerous situation."

"I can handle myself. You should know that by now."

"That doesn't mean you should have to. And besides, I still need to make up for past mistakes."

"Damon..." Bonnie sighed. She hated the way he stared at her, at the way his focus was solely on her, and the way her stomach flipped when she looked into his eyes. They were seated at the corner of the bar and though the place was crowded, there were very few people around them. Still, she leaned towards him, keeping her voice quieter so people wouldn't overhear their conversation. Vampires could be quite nosy when they wanted to be. "This is getting old. How many times am I going to have to explain to you that you and I aren't going to be what we were again? There is no making up for past mistakes. I understand that you're going to do what you're going to do, but I'm going back home, and you should too."

She downed the rest of her drink, and placed her glass on the counter. Sparing Damon one last glance, she ignored his frown and walked off towards the entrance. As soon as she was halfway down the block, however, he was behind her.

"Why did you even come?"

"What?" She turned around to face him.

"Don't tell me it was only because you actually wanted to know why I was here. If the conversation was going to end like this, you didn't have to meet me. You could've just said all that through text or even over the phone, so why did you come here?"

He was right. She didn't have to come, and she shouldn't have.

"Do you understand why I don't believe you when you tell me things like we can't go back to the way we were? The other day, you couldn't even give me a straight answer when I asked you whether or not you wanted me to try. You're toeing a line, and if you really want me to go then you need to be clearer and really tell me to fuck off." Damon stepped closer. "Because from where I'm standing, it seems like you do still want me in your life, and so long as that remains true, I will do all I can to make up for how I hurt you."

She looked away from him and down the street. Only a few people were walking about. "Like I said before, none of that matters."

"If this is still just about me and Elena-"

"It's isn't." Bonnie shook her head, exasperated with him. Rebekah's advice rang in the back of her mind. She should just tell him. "It's about everything. Damon. As much as I hate to admit it, there is something between us, an attraction or whatever you want to call it, and it's a part of the reason why I don't want you back in my life and why I know I'll cause issues in your relationship."

Her words hung between them until he inhaled and let out a long sigh. "What happened to all the denial?"

"It's becoming clear to me that you won't stop trying unless I admit to it so you can see how much of much of a problem it is that you won't let go."

He shook his head. "How is it a problem? Since 1994, there have been countless times that I've had less than kosher thoughts about you, but I've never acted on them. I may think you're beautiful and find you attractive, but I know how to control myself."

Bonnie had already known this, but hearing him admit it aloud made her stomach flip again. "And aren't you sick of it?"

"I can live with never having you if it means keeping you in my life."

The sincerity in his eyes was almost too much to look at. "Then that's the difference between you and me. I don't want to have to deal with ignoring whatever this thing between us is while pretending I'm okay with having you in my life again and playing second best to someone who I've already sacrificed so much for."

His brows turned inward as he considered her words. "So you don't want to ignore it?"

He was misinterpreting her. "That's not what I meant. I'm saying that this friendship isn't going to work because we both feel something for one another that is more than platonic."

His eyebrows raised ever so slightly as he moved closer to her. "So what I'm hearing is that you've wanted me the same way I've wanted you despite everything."

Of course he would be focused on that. Bonnie resisted the urge to deny it. "I'm telling you this because I want you to understand why we can't be in each other's lives. The fact that we've been denying anything at all is an issue, and you may be able to control yourself now, but we both know that if I decided I wanted to have you right here and right now, you wouldn't stop me."

The moment she saw that spark in his eyes, she wanted to take back her words. The corner of his mouth twitched. "I'm not that easy, Bon-bon. And who's to say the opposite isn't also true." The challenge in his eyes was dangerous, and Bonnie found herself rising to it instinctively. Suddenly, she wished there were more people around to diffuse the tension rising between them.

She folded her arms across her chest. "I have more self-restraint than you and you know it."

He stepped even closer to her, his chest brushing her folded arms, forcing her to raise her chin further to keep his gaze. She made herself appear unphased. "I doubt that." The way he looked at her changed. It was as if a veil lifted from his stare, and she could see the full force of his desire, the weight of it sinking into her body. She shivered. The memory of the emotions she'd felt when she bit him surfaced. The depth of his want for her and how it had been far deeper than she had expected. Her eyes dipped to his lips, and he didn't miss it.

"You need to let this go." They were standing too close, and it occurred to Bonnie that she should move away from him, but she remained where she was. Moving would make her look as if he made her nervous, and Bonnie was determined to not budge an inch with him.

"I can't."

"Can't or won't?"

He paused for a second before answering. "Both. For the past three months, I've missed you and if anything, it's made me realize that I need you in my life. I don't care how long it takes for you to forgive me, even if that's more than one hundred years from now. I can be patient. I can wait."

One hundred years from now? Had he realized what he'd just said? Bonnie shook her head. "Look at us, Damon. You don't think this is a problem? The way we're standing, the things you're saying to me. You're acting like you're not even going to take the cure. Are you even thinking about how Elena would feel? Do you even care?"

His eyes widened slightly as if he actually hadn't considered her. No. He wasn't thinking about his girlfriend, about the woman he was supposed to be settling down with for the rest of his life. He was thinking about her, about the best friend whose forgiveness he wanted, a forgiveness he was willing to wait for even if it took more than a hundred years. Bonnie didn't doubt that he could actually mean it. She was certain his feelings towards herself couldn't compare to what he'd once felt for Katherine, but he'd devoted himself to her, the first love of his life, for just as long.

And it bothered her how much that thought affected her, how her traitorous heart clenched a little at the thought of him never giving up and never taking the cure. He was talking about giving up a large part of the future he and Elena planned for themselves simply to work towards her forgiveness, and the realization made Bonnie pause. When she had fed from him, she felt his indecision then, and the fact that he was here inserting himself back into her life, that he hadn't taken the cure yet, that he hadn't married her yet, and that he was still looking at Bonnie with that same desire in his eyes, all pointed to his continued indecisiveness. He was confused and he wanted her, but he couldn't want her more than he wanted to be with Elena, could he?

"Elena and I aren't on the best terms right now," he said.

That didn't really answer her previous question, but what did that mean exactly? Bonnie wanted to ask, but she didn't want to pry too deeply into what was none of her business. "But you still love her, don't you?"

The question caught him off guard, and Damon looked away from her. "I do, but I..." He trailed off, and there was an uncharacteristic uncertainty on his face.

"But you still don't know what you want, do you? You wouldn't be here if you did know what you wanted. Admit it Damon. Be completely honest with yourself and me for once."

He scoffed. "You're one to ask for honesty, but fine." His hands clenched at his sides, and his eyes widened with frustration as he stared at her. Bonnie wasn't sure why, but she braced herself. "What do you want me to tell you then? Do you want me to tell you that I've been telling myself that I still love Elena and that I still want to be with her, but sometimes I'm not sure? That I've thought of what it might be like to be with you instead, that if there was a possibility of you and I being anything more than friends, that I..." He trailed off, looking away and running a frustrated hand through his hair.

What was he saying? She found her heart beginning to beat a little faster at his words. "That you what?" Her voice came out quieter than she intended. This was more than she expected from him, and Bonnie turned his words over in her head. He wasn't sure whether he wanted to be with Elena anymore? He was imaging what it would be like if they were together?

He looked back to her, his eyes still wide, but he didn't continue his last statement. "It doesn't matter. I know how to ignore this. I know how to pretend it doesn't exist, but I don't know how to turn it off, and I'm not sure I want to."

One of his hands came to rest on her hip, his fingers finding the skin in the space between her shirt and shorts, and her stomach muscles clenched as she felt that electric feeling only his touch had ever ignited in her. His fingers slid up to her waist, and she could feel him wanting to inch even closer towards her to close the distance between them, so she pressed a hand to his chest to preemptively stop him, but she didn't move away from him, nor did she move her hand from his chest.

They were both in a conflicted sea of emotions. Him in his everlasting indecision and her in her reluctance to want him in her life and her inability to completely cut him off again. Where was all that resolve she had three months ago? "This is a mess."

"I know."

"This is why I don't want you here."

"I know." His eyes were dark as they stared her down, the blue of his irises barely visible in the night. "But I'm not leaving New Orleans until this thing with the hunters is over, until I know you're not in any danger whatsoever and you can live your life without having to focus on survival." Intensity poured through his gaze as he brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "You deserve at least that much." His fingers lingered along her neck, drawing her focus to that prickly tingling feeling that made her stomach curl again.

God she hated the way he was making her feel, hated how his hand still rested near her neck, his thumb brushing along her jawline, distracting her from her thoughts. She hated how good it felt, and how much she wanted more, how she had always wanted more. In 1994, in Europe and right up until the moment he desiccated, she had relished moments like this where his touch was near crossing lines past friendship. Even months ago when she had fed from him, underneath all the resentment, she had enjoyed the closeness that stemmed from those moments even though she was still pissed at him. Damon was right. Despite everything, she had wanted him just as much as he wanted her.

"So there's no way I could change your mind and convince you to leave?"

"I meant it when I said you were stuck with me, Bon-Bon." They were practically wrapped up in one another. He had one hand on her waist, the other in the crook of her neck. Her hand on his chest was a flimsy barrier between them on the brink of braking. Desire rode under the surface between them, a slow wave gaining momentum.

 _Aren't you sick of it?_ Bonnie had asked him, but the truth was that she was the one who was getting sick of it. Bonnie was tired of all the back and forth, of feeling this tension whenever they were in the same space, of wanting him and not being able to take what she wanted. But she could if she would let herself. It would be easy to fall into this and she hated how she was tempted to let go just once, just to see.

He was dragging her into his orbit, but Bonnie was still holding on to her principles by a thread, a thin one that was fraying the longer she let this go on.

Her hand slipped off his chest and fell back down to her sides. Bonnie tilted herself away from him.

Damon let his hands fall back to his sides as well.

"I…should go." Bonnie said, wanting to escape from him and the emotions he was stirring up in her. He let her walk away without another word, but she couldn't resist glancing back at him once before she went around the corner. He stood in the middle of the sidewalk, still watching her, his gaze threatening to draw her back in.

Yeah, if he was going to be around, she planned to avoid him as much as possible.

* * *

For the next few days, Bonnie didn't see or hear from Damon, but she knew he was still in New Orleans. Marcel had told her when she ran into him on the street and questioned him about letting Damon stick around. He didn't, however, say anything about where he was or what exactly he had him doing, and Bonnie didn't ask. But his reasoning for letting him stay was unfortunately valid.

Recently, a lot of the vampires and werewolves who were rescued from the facility in Texas and the others who had come here from Mark's place in Kansas and all over the Midwest were leaving the country and moving to Europe and other places where things were safer. That left only the people who were willing to stand their ground against the hunters, and between the werewolves and the vampires, that was less than a hundred due to recent deaths over the years. A lot of the witches, however, refused to leave. This was where their ancestors were buried, and they would fight to the death for their home. Hence why after a massive attack earlier this year, a magical barrier to specifically keep hunters out was erected around the town.

So far, that magical barrier had worked until last week, and now the witches were under suspicion, but the last thing they needed was division amongst the supernatural community. That would only make it easier for the hunters to pick them off.

Bonnie looked back down at the grimoire in front of her. Lately, reading grimoires and studying magic was all she did in her spare time. The one in front of her was one from Freya's collection and discussed spatial manipulation and teleportation magic in a detailed manner. Bonnie had read through it before, and with some effort could move objects over some distance, but she hadn't quite grasped how to move a person and was hesitant to try it.

Beside her, Hope and Freya were meditating and at the same time levitated objects in the room in order to practice control. Bonnie had given up on the meditation exercise after struggling to focus since her thoughts had kept wandering back to that night. The three of them often met like this in order to practice magic and occasionally they might go visit another witch willing to teach Hope like Vincent or his fiancé, Ivy. On this day, however, it was just the three of them.

"Alright," Freya said. "That's enough."

Hope released her magic and dropped the desk she'd been levitating. Beads of sweat had gathered on her forehead at the effort and she brought a hand to her hairline to wipe them away. Tired, she leaned back onto her other hand.

"You're getting better, Hope. You were able to go for longer today."

Bonnie looked up from her spot on the bed at the two of them.

Hope had a hopeful look on her face. "Can I throw things with my mind yet?"

Freya shook her head. "You need better control first."

That's all you ever say," Hope complained, sitting up and turning towards Bonnie. "I want Bonnie to teach me something again, something with fire or lightning."

"We could practice fire with candles or with wood in the fireplace, but lightning is too dangerous," Bonnie said. "Remember, I shocked myself a few times when I first started experimenting with it."

"I remember," Hope giggled. "Your hair looked pretty crazy."

Bonnie gave Hope a smile. Hope stood to sit on the bed beside her, and leaned into her shoulder affectionately.

"Did you meet your friend yet?"

Bonnie frowned. "My friend?"

"The one with the blue eyes. He was looking for you, and I told him where to find you."

That was her? She was the last person Bonnie would've suspected to have told him. "Hope, you can't just tell strangers where I live."

The little girl sat up excitedly. "But he knew you. I did a reading on him, and his feelings for you were stronger than any other emotion inside him. The connection between both of you was really strong too. It was like you were a part of him, but deeper than that. It's hard to explain. And I think I saw a bit of the future too. You and he were-"

"Stop." Bonnie shook her head. "I don't want to know anymore." She stood up from the bed, and Hope could sense the sudden change in her mood.

"Did I say something wrong?" Hope asked.

"No. I just…he's a touchy subject for me," Bonnie explained. "I'm going to get a blood bag. I'll be back in a minute. "

The vampire-witch disappeared down the hallway and made her way down the steps into the kitchen, determined not to reflect on what Hope said. It was bad enough that lately she had been distracted by thoughts of him and that night, but to hear what Hope said on top of that was a lot to take in, and it might not even be true. She was only a child, so how accurate could her readings be?

"Do you want to talk about it?" Freya had come into the kitchen and Bonnie had been so in her head that she hadn't even noticed.

"What is there to talk about?" Bonnie grabbed a blood bag out the refrigerator.

Freya leaned forward on the counter, resting her head in one of her hands. "I heard you met with him at Rousseau's."

"Yeah. I wanted to convince him to leave." And she had gotten caught up in her emotions and failed wildly.

"But he's still here?"

"He has some misguided notion that he should be trying to make it up to me."

"He cares for you. That much was obvious when we came to rescue you guys."

"I know he does, but I wish he wouldn't. Not when he's only going to go running back to her in the end." Bonnie took the blood bag out the microwave and opened it.

"And you don't want him to?"

"I want to stop feeling like a mess of emotions around him, and the quickest way for that to happen is for him to go back to Mystic Falls and back to her. She was his first choice after all."

"Hmm." Freya had a contemplative look on her face.

"What?"

"Nothing, it's just…are you sure she's still his first choice?"

Bonnie didn't respond as she brought the blood bag to her mouth.

Suddenly, in the distance Bonnie heard the front door burst open and someone yelling for Freya. She and Bonnie looked at one another and rushed out into the foyer area to find a vampire she recognized as a guy named Eric carrying another incapacitated vampire. The incapacitated one hung over his shoulder and Bonnie couldn't see his face, but she would know that black hair and pale skin anywhere. He dropped him on the floor, and Bonnie's chest caved inward at the sight of Damon. He was unconscious, his veins were slowly turning black, and he was taking shallow breaths. She immediately knelt on the floor beside him and started looking for a wound.

"Something's wrong with him. I think he's been poisoned."

When Bonnie lifted up Damon's shirt, she could see where a bullet had pierced the side of his torso. The edges of the wound were black and that blackness spread from the wound through his veins, reaching all the way up to his shoulders and slowly moving down his arms and up to his neck. "The bullet was coated in vervain, but I managed to remove it," Eric said.

When Bonnie pressed her hands to the wound, she could feel the dark magic at work, seeping the life from him. Immediately, she attempted to absorb whatever spell had been infused into his bloodstream from the bullet, but when she tried to absorb it, she could sense the poison attempting to spread to her, so she stopped. Whoever had done this was powerful, and she wasn't sure how to counteract it. A rush of panic filled her as she stared at the way the blackness spread through Damon's veins. She couldn't let him die.

"I can't absorb it," she looked at Freya, trying not to appear as frantic as she felt. The older witch was kneeling on the other side of Damon with a contemplative look on her face. "It seems like a blood poisoning spell."

"If it's a blood poisoning spell, then in order to remove it, wouldn't we need the witch who created it?" Another rush of panic went through Bonnie. It would be impossible to find the witch who did this in time to save him.

"That would be the easiest way, but maybe not." Freya ran upstairs and returned a minute later with a grimoire in hand. "If it's dark magic, then maybe a dark magic purification spell will work." She knelt beside Bonnie and placed the grimoire on the floor beside her.

Freya's magic opened the book to the spell she wanted, and looking at the book, she pressed her hands to Damon's wounds. She began to chant. Over and over she chanted, and her fingers glowed as the spell activated. Bonnie could see the poison stop spreading, but it wasn't reversing. She looked up at Bonnie, a sadness coming into her expression. "I can't seem to reverse it."

No. Bonnie couldn't give up. The poison had at least stopped so that meant the spell was having some effect. "Maybe you just need more power." Bonnie joined her, placing her hands beside Freya's and they chanted together. Bonnie could feel the tattoos on her back burning as she tried her hardest to counteract the dark poison. Damon could not die here. She wouldn't let him. With her eyes clamped shut, Bonnie poured her magic into the spell, and when she opened them, she could finally see the black lines underneath his veins begin to recede.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for the wait! I'm trying not to rush things too much, but I'm still trying to move things forward. And I'm still considering changing this chapter because I'm not sure how I feel about how things are happening in this one, but I thought I'd post it anyway to see what people think. But anyway, thanks for reading! And thanks to everyone who's been favoriting and leaving reviews on this story!**


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